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Cocky and bull story as Max refuses to drive like an OAP and nicks a shock victory
MIGHTY Max Verstappen refused to drive like a granny and pounced to deliver the mother of all surprises at Silverstone.
The flying Dutchman stunned Lewis Hamilton after being told early in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix to hold back by his engineer.
The cocky racer replied: “This is the only chance to be this close to the Mercedes.
“I am not going to sit behind them and drive like a grandma.”
Verstappen was in more relaxed mood as he cruised to victory, telling his pit crew: “You must have sweaty hands, make sure that you sanitise.”
The Dutch ace has been one of the sport’s great hopes for some time and this was further confirmation he is the young man with all the tools to take up the challenge of putting a thrill back into Formula One.
The dominance of Mercedes has, let’s face it, become dull to those without a vested interest.
This was a flawless reminder of Verstappen’s frightening talent and his equally frightening confidence.
After getting ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Hamilton when the pair pitted on the 13th and 14th laps, 22-year-old Verstappen, right, never had a moment’s worry before collecting the ninth win of his career.
He admitted: “I didn’t see this one coming.
“We didn’t have many tyre issues at all. It is a great result to win here and I am incredibly happy.”
It was a shock for Hamilton, who got past Bottas in the closing laps to finish second but, along with his team-mate, struggled with severe tyre problems all afternoon.
Hamilton, who won last week’s British Grand Prix at the same track on three wheels after a last lap puncture, said: “It was a massive challenge for us today.
“I was managing the tyres like you couldn’t believe.
“In the middle stint, one half of a rear tyre was bald and the other half was OK.
“I was afraid that it was going to explode.
“It was unexpected to have blistering as hardcore as we experienced. I’m grateful to have progressed like I did.
“Considering the struggles we had, it was about not losing my cool, bringing it home and getting the points.”
There are new regulations being put in place for 2022.
If they achieve their aim of levelling the playing field in terms of car performance, then a toe-to-toe fight between record-breaking Hamilton, who would then be a veteran, and Verstappen would be compelling.
It still might this season if Mercedes continue to have the sort of chronic tyre problems that have dogged them through these back-toback Silverstone races.
Bottas finished third and is now 34 points behind Hamilton in the championship with Verstappen moving into second place, 30 points behind the sixtime champion. Brits Lando Norris and George Russell finished ninth and 18th.