F1: Verstappen’s drive in the Suzuka rain was Senna-like (Update)

Max Verstappen’s father Jos has said that his son always has something extra in wet weather conditions. The Red Bull driver sealed his second championship at the rain-marred Japanese GP in Suzuka on Sunday.

Talking about the race in his blog on Max Verstappen’s website, Jos said that as soon as there was rain, he felt things were going to turn in his son’s favor, as Max thrives driving in the rain. Jos wrote:

“These kind of conditions are Max’s speciality – from an early age, he had something extra in the rain. I spoke to him and called him, and I already sent him a text message. I told him he is the best – but I say that almost every weekend.”

Verstappen has joined Germans Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel as the only drivers to win the championship with four races to spare.

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner believes that Max Verstappen has been on “another planet” this year on his way to his second Formula 1 world championship.

“To do it with four races remaining, I mean, it’s truly a remarkable performance,” said Horner, when Autosport asked if he could enjoy this success more than last year’s.

“And I think Max has been on another planet this year, he has dominated this championship, driven with such maturity, such conviction.

“And I think, of course, far less controversial than the last race in Abu Dhabi, which was a titanic battle last year. And the big one outstanding for us is the constructors’.

“So after eight years, no other team has come close to winning it, and hopefully, we can bring that home this year as well.”

“I think last year was such a heavyweight bout between two titans,” he said.

“And I think having achieved that world championship last year, it happened with Sebastian and it’s happened again with Max, it’s just taking that pressure off his shoulders of expectation, and he’s just gone out and smashed it out of the park this year.

“He’s in the form of his life, he’s driving incredibly well, the team’s working at an exceptionally high level, the strength and depth that we have throughout the organization is immense.

“We had a horrible start, he got quite a lot of wheelspin,” said Horner. “But then he went for the old karting line around the outside. And he was fully committed.

“I talked to him in the break and he said, ‘Look, I was going for it.’ Charles gave him enough space and, and he made the move stick. And yeah, it was great racing those first two corners.

“There’s a huge amount going on,” said Horner. “I mean, the circuit actually started to dry up. And these tires don’t like the energy, particularly in the first sector, you can do an awful lot of damage to them, and Max just controlled the slip, controlled the temperature, looked after those tires, and in the end, had an awful lot in hand.

“We thought we were going to be one point short. So we’re playing with the idea of pitting [to get fastest lap], but it was unsure whether Checo will pass Charles or not. But look, Max Verstappen has been outstanding this year.

“After a couple of difficult races early in the season, in the way the team has bounced back, the way he’s driven, he’s dominated this championship. And, again, that was a totally dominant drive today.

“What did he do? 25 seconds on Charles in 20-odd laps was a massive performance today.

Max Verstappen’s performance in the rain this year has been spectacular.  Even when his team screwed up in the Singapore GP and he had to drive through the field twice on a wet street circuit, Verstappen passed far more cars than anyone else in very tricky conditions.

However, his performance in Suzuka on Sunday, on his way to winning the Japanese GP on a very wet track, was an Ayrton Senna-like driving display that made all the other drivers look like rank amateurs.

Biblical weather, and he dropped the field by 27 seconds in 26 laps of racing.

The race was shortened to a 2-hour limit and just 28 of 53 laps, but in the 26 laps running under the green, Verstappen gapped Perez and Leclerc by 1-second per lap. Total domination.

Just like Senna did in the rain.

Senna was deemed the best driver ever in the rain, but Verstappen drove like Senna on Sunday and blew away the field in completely dominating style.

He now has 12 wins in 18 races this season, and is on pace to break the record held by Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher, of 13 wins in a season.

It is beginning to look like Verstappen is a better driver than even Lewis Hamilton, who the British think is the best F1 driver ever with the most wins and the most poles in history.

But Verstappen is on pace to destroy Hamilton’s records – all of them.

A superstar with the world at his feet.

Verstappen just turned 25 years old last weekend and has 32 wins to Hamilton’s 14 at that age.  However, Verstappen has another 51 weeks at the age of 25 to pad his record pace of wins at the young age of 25.

Should Verstappen have another dominating year next year like he did this year, he would be on pace to have over 40 wins at age 25 to the 14 Hamilton amassed by 25.

That has Hamilton so worried, he is going to stay in F1 another 5 years to win as many races as he can to delay the Dutchman from destroying his legacy.

Time will tell how it all will play out, but the next 5 years should be fun to watch as two of the all-time greats go at it tooth and nail.

Mark C. reporting for AutoRacing1.com

Hamilton vs Verstappen Cumulative Win Record by Age