EXCLUSIVE: F1 record holder reveals Max Verstappen has changed every drivers' racing style

GPFans Exclusive

EXCLUSIVE: F1 record holder reveals Verstappen has changed every drivers' racing style

The way that Max Verstappen drives has changed the future of Formula 1 believes F1 record holder

Jim Kimberley

Sunday 14 April 2024 19:57

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Max Verstappen rewriting the Formula 1 record book is an ongoing job for the three-time world champion.

As the Dutch ace dominates the sport, he inches closer to topping several all-time lists, but he has already changed F1 and the wider motorsport world.

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Those are the thoughts of another F1 record holder, who revealed that Verstappen has 'inspired' young and old drivers with his racing style.

His unusual approach has bucked tradition, and the 'creative' driving style paves new roads for racing.

Verstappen's approach to driving

Jan Lammers is the driver who spent the longest out of the sport after a 10-year gap between 1982 and 1992, during which time he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Dutch driver spoke exclusively with GPFans about how Verstappen's driving has changed the sport for his son, the F4-bound René Lammers, saying, "I think any top athlete, and particularly someone like Max, their performance is an inspiration to many.

"We were very much inspired, but we also learned from the situation that Max is in.

"Some things, particularly his driving... his way of driving... I saw the way he was driving, his approach, and sometimes even specific lines in corners that I've done maybe a hundred... maybe a thousand times in my life.

"I see that his approach to those corners on some tracks that I know very well, he's taking a totally different approach.

"And then I see other people in Formula One following that. And then that whole new generation learns from that."

'Creative' driving by Verstappen

Lammers is a versatile racer with decades of experience, but he identified his compatriot's approach in Japan as noteworthy by explaining, "Max was probably one of the first guys that… this hairpin Suzuka that is like almost a V-shape apex, and he made a U out of that V.

"In the middle, in the beginning, you think, 'Oh, he's missing the apex by two meters,'' and then he does it again and again.

"Then you think, 'That makes a lot of sense. It's actually probably better and quicker and for the tyres and you name it', and then you see that there is a trend developing that it's not so much outside-inside-outside that was the traditional line, but there is more to it.

"That's a very creative way, and a lot of people learn from that."