EXCLUSIVE: How Verstappen's 'creative' driving style is changing F1

Max Verstappen celebrates winning the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix — Photo: © IMAGO

GPFans Exclusive

EXCLUSIVE: How Verstappen's 'creative' driving style is changing F1

The Dutchman is setting a new trend in F1, according to a former driver

Jim Kimberley

Thursday 18 April 2024 15:00

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 an F1 record holder who revealed that Verstappen has 'inspired' young and old drivers by the way he drives.

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

Verstappen's approach to driving

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 tires 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."

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