“[…] In sixth place I put Max Verstappen because at the moment he is the strongest world champion among those I have seen racing but also, if you can pass the term, the most useless. If he were to retire tomorrow, few would miss him because there is something inhuman about his superiority. Then he is not a character”.
This is the legitimate and respectable opinion of those who talk about Formula One in Italy. But precisely because the opinion comes from the only person entitled to be able to do so (not through divine merits but through the right acquired with dollars) certain words should be weighed, pondered and evaluated before being launched into the ether.
Perspectives change when you are the narrator of the Formula One. What does not change, however, is the scope of the resized: Max Verstappen. We are faced with a generational sportsman, one of those men who mark eras and who are born, in fact, every 20-30 years and perhaps more. Is it possible that we can do without such a champion?
This gentleman, Max Verstappen from Hasselt, a charming town in Flanders, was able to win 61 races in 195 GPs held. Three titles, 106 podiums, 39 pole positions, 32 fastest laps as a side dish to the main course. Max makes his presence known almost all the time. Find him a more incisive driver than this one in the history of Formula One.
![GP Spain 2024 order arrival](https://www.formulacritica.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Max-3-jpg.webp)
The journalist also has a pedagogical function. It must educate the public by offering the right messages. We live in times in which the so-called "flame" is the engine of interactions, but there is a limit to everything. Verstappen is a total champion and not seeing his stigmata is a cardinal sin that only a heated and unclear fan could commit.
Max won races in every way: as an absolute dominator thanks to a superior technical means, but also as a tightrope walker. He achieved other triumphs as a fine strategist; still others as a villain with rustic duels won with the sound of wheel spins. Verstappen has everything in his boundless baggage: speed, heart, technique, tactical vision, ability to adapt to the vehicle and track conditions.
Is nice? No. And perhaps this weighs in on an unbalanced and incomprehensible judgment. Max brings with him that hint of antipathy that distinguishes true champions. Question history and see what public opinion thought of titans like Schumacher, Senna, Prost, Lauda and so on.
Verstappen is not useless. Useless are these obscenely stupid rankings served up to ignite a mortifying debate for the synapses of every enthusiast. Let's enjoy this phenomenon, his exploits, his sporting wickedness, his insatiable hunger. In a hundred years we will be talking about Max Verstappen, not about certain laughable opinions. Nor of those who express them.
Crediti foto: Oracle Red Bull Racing