Austrian GP showed Max Verstappen shares Michael Schumacher's best and worst trait

Max Verstappen and Michael Schumacher look glum with a fiery background — Photo: © IMAGO

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Austria showed Verstappen shares Schumacher's best and worst trait

The two champion drivers are some of the sport's greatest, but at what cost?

Jim Kimberley

Thursday 4 July 2024 13:43

Everything that has made Max Verstappen one of the sport's greatest drivers and most controversial drivers in Formula 1 history came to the fore in the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix.

His frantic fight with Lando Norris had the reigning champion pushing the limits, quite literally, in a battle that will live long in every fan's memory.

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Something about how instinctual Verstappen drives is reminiscent of another legendary figure of the sport, Michael Schumacher.

For some, the German driver is the best of all time, while for others, he's a flawed great of the sport, and Verstappen's racing is treading a familiar path.

Michael Schumacher is a seven-time world champion

Max Verstappen is a three-time Formula 1 world champion

On the edge racing

Although I am still younger than Kimi Raikkonen when the Finnish driver retired, I don't see a world championship title in my future.

Sure, a lack of finances, experience, or talent is part of that, but the killer commitment to do everything to beat a rival is lacking in me, too.

That's where Verstappen excels far above anyone, more than any other driver in the modern sport.

There are ministers of defence like Sergio Perez, the latest of late brakers like Daniel Ricciardo, one-lap wonders like Charles Leclerc, and political masterminds like Fernando Alonso.

Yet no one other than Verstappen is anywhere near Schumacher's level when it comes to fighting for every position as though they are all a matter of life and death. Both drivers have undeniable speed, pace, and racecraft, but few F1 drivers don't in the modern era.

What sets them apart, even from their multiple-champion peers like Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, is how their inner racer transforms them into a wholly different creature once inside the cockpit.

It was Schumacher's greatest asset. It also tainted his legacy, and Verstappen is cut from the same cloth.

Michael Schumacher won five world championship titles with Ferrari

Schumacher and Verstappen's defensive instincts

Those dozen laps of Spielberg on Sunday condensed almost everything about Verstappen's daring driving style into 15 minutes.

His reflex to move right as soon as he saw Norris try to attack for the first time on Lap 55 exemplifies what was to come.

Norris radioed to complain about the Red Bull's movement under braking, and it initially sounded like frustrated sour grapes.

There's no denying Norris is quick, but he hasn't had the chance to fight for many victories before 2024.

There's always that tiny bit extra needed from a driver to make that step into becoming a regular race winner rather than a podium challenger, so I wondered whether a slight lack of conviction was missing on first viewing.

The replays showed that this wasn't a case of hesitation or nerves, though, and Verstappen did jink to the right after Norris went for the inside.

This move wasn't a last-gasp Michael Schumacher-Jacques Villeneuve 1997 lunge, but the natural reaction to reject the overtake was still there.

Lap 59 saw a repeat, albeit with Norris getting through and subsequently running wide, yet with much less attention than the earlier defence.

However, watching the Verstappen onboard, there is a notable jink to the right after he's begun downshifting for the corner after he sees Norris attack.

There's relatively very little on the line for Verstappen here, but who's to say whether a championship showdown would've seen that jink become a shove like Schumacher gave Damon Hill in Adelaide 1996?

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris collided in Austria

Is Verstappen a dangerous driver?

"He can't keep moving after I move, it's just dangerous, else we'll have a big shunt," was the prophetic radio message from Norris.

The broadcast format made this unclear when he said this, but it was immediately after the Lap 59 move overtake attempt, showing how it affected his driving.

Norris' best attempt came on Lap 63, arguably the move that would've won the race had the stewards intervened before it was too late.

He made it on the inside line, got to the apex first, and didn't go off track, but Verstappen's never-say-die attitude had the Dutchman take to the runoff and retain the lead.

The irony of Verstappen complaining about Norris' moves being divebombs and not how you overtake was laughable, but Gianpiero Lambiase's agreement made the situation almost embarrassing.

Of course, I don't expect GP to reply by telling Verstappen, "Divebomb overtakes are your staple move, what do you mean?"

But there is a hero-worshipping element of a driver who can do no wrong at Red Bull right now that draws parallels to Ferrari bending over backwards for Schumacher in his heyday.

Pushing Norris past the limit

Even after the inevitable Lap 64 incident, there's the moment when Lando takes to the grass to avoid further contact with Verstappen.

Both drivers were in damaged vehicles, yes, but Verstappen was constantly checking his mirrors due to his reduced speed and still required Norris to take avoiding action on the run to Turn 4.

There were no sharp wheel turns this time, but the constant drift to the right and lack of movement to avoid the rapidly closing in McLaren suggested to me the desire to keep ahead no matter what remained.

Norris backed off after having almost all of his car on the grass verge, and Verstappen defiantly sped off to temporarily keep the lead.

The circumstances are different, but as Juan Pablo Montoya said of Schumacher in 2004 after being pushed to the grass, "You've got to be either blind or stupid not to see me."

Contrary to that fiery line from one of the best drivers to never win a championship, Verstappen and Schumacher are neither sightless nor dumb.

Yet they will go much further than those they share the track with would ever dare through their innate instincts to stay ahead.

That attitude often pays off, but when it doesn't, the stains on the legacy begin to deepen, and Verstappen's got much dirtier in Spielberg.

Max Verstappen Ferrari Formula 1 Lando Norris Michael Schumacher