All eyes on Verstappen as season gets going

PARIS — Max Verstappen no longer has the element of surprise, and all eyes will be on the Dutch driver when the Formula One season gets underway at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Red Bull driver has already made Formula One history as the youngest to win a race and the youngest to qualify on the front row of the grid. He also completed a record 78 overtaking moves during the 21-race season.

He did that last season, which included an astonishing drive to cut through the field during the rain-soaked Brazilian Grand Prix. Verstappen climbed from 15th place to third with just 10 laps remaining.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner called it “one of the best drives I’ve seen in Formula 1” and it evoked comparison with the great Ayrton Senna for the similar daring he showed during his career. For someone so young, Vertappen’s mesmeric drive that day drew widespread admiration for the skill and courage involved.

But Verstappen’s no-limits approach is also divisive.

The sport and its fans love him — orange-clad Dutch fans turned up in their thousands at the Belgium GP last August — but some drivers don’t. Verstappen antagonized senior drivers like Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen with his brazen attitude last season.

Worse, in their eyes, he’s not in the habit of apologizing.

Instead, Verstappen chastised Vettel over the radio after