Standout F1 overtakes feel ‘normal’ to Verstappen

X (Twitter)X (Twitter)
FacebookFacebook
WhatsappWhatsapp

Max Verstappen says pulling off impressive overtaking manoeuvres “feels normal” to him, after he quickly established himself as a feisty racer during his rookie Formula One season.

Many eyebrows were raised when the Dutchman was confirmed at Toro Rosso at age 16 in the summer of 2014. Verstappen quickly silenced his critics though, running well in the top 10 during Melbourne’s curtain-raiser before becoming the youngest driver ever to score championship points at the next event in Malaysia.

The teenager went on delivering a series of impressive performances, including a pair of fourth-place finishes in Hungary and Austin. But what really captured the fans’ imagination were Verstappen’s inclination towards breath-taking passes in his Renault-powered STR10, like going on the outside of Sauber’s Felipe Nasr at Spa’s very high-speed Blanchimont turn (see picture).

While the Dutch prodigy is naturally pleased to be praised for his daring race craft, he claims this has always been part of his driving style.

“For me it feels normal,” Verstappen is quoted as saying by Crash.net. “It's what I like to do! It is, of course, nice to hear [compliments], but I just try to be myself and do what I always did.”

Although his Abu Dhabi Grand Prix performance ranked below the high standards he has set all season, the Toro Rosso driver still managed to finish an impressive 12th in the Drivers’ championship.

“It has been a very eventful season. Maybe the first six or seven races could have been a bit better, but I've learned a lot and my experience grows race by race.

“I'm much more confident in the car and know what to do now when I jump in so, definitely, it's much more relaxing now.”

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Quotes of the weekend

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - F1i's driver ratings

Use the red tabs on either side of the screen to scroll through more Formula One news and features

Click here for exclusive pictures of the Ferrari power unit

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Julien Billiotte

Recent Posts

Norris warns MCL39 has more to give – but not everywhere

Australian Grand Prix winner Lando Norris says the season’s calendar will bring circuits that test…

35 mins ago

Horner defends Lawson after Melbourne opening bust

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has defended Liam Lawson following the latter’s challenging debut…

2 hours ago

Haas’ pointless weekend sparks turnaround vow in Shanghai

Last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix was a bruising wake-up call for Haas, with Esteban Ocon…

3 hours ago

Domenicali meets Thai PM for street race plan in Bangkok

Formula 1’s global ambitions took another vibrant on Tuesday, as CEO Stefano Domenicali touched down…

17 hours ago

Alpine’s Oakes: ‘We’ve caused a lot of the noise around Doohan’

Alpine F1 team principal Oliver Oakes has acknowledged that much of the pre-season speculation surrounding…

18 hours ago

Wolff: It's clear Mercedes has 'taken a step forward'

The 2025 Australian Grand Prix has come and gone, and for Mercedes team principal Toto…

19 hours ago