2018: Pressures at breaking point cause splits at Red Bull
Season: 21 races, 2 wins, 0 poles, 2 fastest laps, 11 podiums
Drivers championship: 4th place, 249 points
Determined to push on and achieve greater successes, Verstappen increasingly ruffled feathers in 2018. It looked like many of his peers' criticisms about his ruthless driving style were coming home to roost. He was involved in controversial incidents in each of the first six races, including a clash with Hamilton in Bahrain and a collision with Vettel in China.
In Azerbaijan, a race-long battle with his team mate ended up with Ricciardo running into the back of Max's car as he defended the position with all his trademark aggression, putting both cars out of the race and earning the pair criticism and censure from both the team and the FIA stewards. A practice crash in Monaco put him on the back foot just as Ricciardo was speeding to victory in the principality. Even his bosses were growing critical: Max "needed to stop making these mistakes" and could "learn from his teammate" suggested Horner, while Marko said the prodigy was "too impatient".
Verstappen responded with a series of podiums including victory at Red Bull's home circuit in Austria, and he was soon flavour of the month once more at Milton Keynes when he won his second consecutive Mexican GP. But accusations of "red mist" continued to plague him, and he got into a paddock shoving match with Esteban Ocon after the pair clashed in Brazil for which he was given two days of "public service" as a penalty by the FIA. Then Ricciardo quit the squad rather than play second fiddle to Max, and the question became whether Verstappen was mature enough to assume the mantle of undisputed team leader at Red Bull.
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