Reviews & Muses

In the wake of the 2024 U.S. and Mexican Grands Prix, where Max Verstappen made a handful of cynical defensive and attacking moves against title rival Lando Norris, I've seen a surprising level of support for the idea that Max is not a good wheel-to-wheel racer, and apparently never has been.

I'd agree that some of his moves are “dirty” — but to act as though they are a product of skill deficiency is a preposterous accusation.

Heading to Mexico, Max was ahead of Lando by 57 points, with five full races to go and two sprint races. In most seasons, this would be insurmountable gap to close, but in 2024, there's more than a mere outside chance of it occurring. Lando's McLaren is the fastest car on the grid, while Max's Red Bull is third at best. If Lando finishes P1 with Max P4 in every remaining race, he'd win the title.

So Max is now in a similar situation as he was in the final rounds of the dramatic 2021 season: driving a slower car than his rival, and desperate to minimize the hemorrhaging. This is when his driving becomes “dirty” — when there's a tactical advantage to it. When Max has a car capable of fighting for wins without an overwhelming disadvantage, his wheel-to-wheel driving tends to be impeccable. It's really when he has no recourse other than desperate maneuvers that we see him make moves like in Brazil 2021 or Mexico 2024.

And at the end of the day, the moves hit their mark. At the Circuit of the Americas, Max actually extended his lead to Lando. And in Mexico City, even with a 20-second penalty, he still managed to reduce the point loss. There's a good chance Lando would have won the race without Max holding him up the way he did. Had Max let him go on to win and finished P4 instead, the current gap between them would be 44 points. As it happened, Lando finished P2 with Max in P6. Fewer points for Max, but the gap is 47 points. And it could have easily been 50 points had Charles not been unlucky with backmarkers helping Lando catch him.

Formula 1 fans don't seem to know what they want. When Lando races meekly, they complain that he doesn't have the fight necessary to be a world champion. When Max races fiercely, they complain that he goes too far. Max just does what he needs to win, and that's ultimately the goal of all F1 drivers — not to mention their job.

When a professional soccer player commits a tactical foul in the 90th minute to prevent an opposing player from scoring and eliminating their nation from the World Cup, we say, “Easy red, but fair enough.” Everyone understands he did what needed to be done for the greater goal. He's not called sloppy or dirty. Max is doing the same, and part of the reason he's paid $55 million a year is that he's very good at it.