At the Shanghai Grand Prix last week, with four laps left in the race, Verstappen took advantage of the situation and launched an attack on Leclerc in front of him.
After the attack and defense of Turns 1 and 2, Verstappen quickly cut into the inside line and finally overtook Leclerc before Turn 3. Although Leclerc's front wing was damaged to some extent, it also gave Verstappen some advantage. However, people are still amazed at Verstappen's overtaking performance. People who are familiar with the track know that the first three consecutive turns on the track are not ordinary places for overtaking.
Verstappen competes at the 2025 F1 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on March 23, 2025.
In the previous article "The Most Expensive F1 Viewing Experience", I mentioned that I had the opportunity to experience something I had never experienced before at the Shanghai Grand Prix because I was invited by the F1 sponsor - riding around the track in the same truck as the driver. Only by walking on the track in person can you understand that Turns 2 and 3 are actually uphill and downhill turns. It is said that the difference between the uphill and downhill is more than seven meters, but in the camera, it looks like flat ground; for example, Turn 16 seems simple, but there are still many drivers who run off the track. The eight-time champion Hamilton once ran into the gravel area at the last left turn leading to the maintenance area and missed the championship. Although all competitions are like this, if you are not careful, everything will be over, but conquering the "up" track of the Shanghai Circuit is by no means easy.
In a sport where the quality of the car is 70%, without Newey's RB21, Verstappen probably wouldn't be able to win another world championship. In any case, the four-time champion Verstappen is no longer driving the fastest car, but his demeanor when driving the Red Bull is still the same as in his heyday, always so calm, arrogant and powerful. As a racing driver, he has a style, and I like that style. Perhaps this is also the reason why people are beginning to realize that 70% of Verstappen's success is talent, not cars.
Regardless of whether Red Bull's car is good or bad, among all Verstappen's teammates, almost no one can control it like Verstappen. If the performance of a teammate is too far behind Verstappen, it is easy to be regarded as incompetent and eventually lose the seat (for the sake of the team championship, Red Bull cannot afford any loss). This is how New Zealander Lawson lost his job. As Verstappen's partner in the new season, Lawson's career at Red Bull came to an abrupt end after the first two races of the season. In these two races, Verstappen ranked second and fourth, while Lawson received a retirement and a ranking that was not in the points zone.
The Japanese driver Tsunoda replaced Lawson, who is also Verstappen's sixth teammate at Red Bull. Before Lawson, Albon, Ricciardo, Gasly and Perez had all partnered with Verstappen, some of whom have left F1 and some have moved to other teams.
Verstappen
Some say Verstappen is the Senna of our time. This is because both of them have extraordinary ability to fight in the rain. In the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, Senna became famous in the rain. In last year's Brazilian Grand Prix, Verstappen started from 17th place in the heavy rain and finally finished first. However, Verstappen and Senna are different people after all.
Senna always believed that his skills came directly from God when driving, and the competition was close to a religious experience. He told Canadian reporters, "Suddenly, I was almost two seconds faster than other drivers, including my teammates who were driving the same car. I suddenly realized that I was no longer driving this car consciously, but by instinct." Senna was only 28 years old at the time, only two years older than Verstappen now. If Senna is full of divinity, Verstappen is much more realistic, or it is better to say that Verstappen's words have a certain persuasiveness to boys and girls who are always troubled by life.
He is outspoken, prickly, and unsmiling. Such a character can easily be portrayed as a villain in the official F1 documentary "Drive for Life". "Drive for Life" is a marketing attempt by Liberty Media to expand the influence of F1. It has added tens of millions of viewers to F1 in the past few years. It is difficult for viewers who have become fans only by watching "Drive for Life" to have any good impression of Verstappen. In the camera, he always habitually yells at the engineers and always stays away from the crowd. This is why the camera prefers the extroverted Ricciardo instead of the Red Bull driver who actually won the race, Verstappen.
Some people who supported Ricciardo also hated Verstappen for using his talent to "force" Ricciardo to leave. Now I think I was quite immature. Competitive sports have their own cruel side. No one is to blame. After leaving Red Bull, Ricciardo moved to several teams, but his performance was always difficult to improve. Those who always believed that he could win the world championship at least once gradually lost confidence. Before the world championship came bad reviews and doubts. At that moment, Verstappen sent a message to Ricciardo, telling him to "stay calm, we know your ability, don't listen to those unnecessary voices." Among all the drivers, he was one of the few who did so.
March 23, 2025, Shanghai, at the 2025F1 Chinese Grand Prix, Verstappen entered the maintenance area during the race.
After the Shanghai race, the news of Lawson's replacement spread all over social networks. After two bad starts in a row, Red Bull obviously lost interest in the New Zealand driver. It is said that Verstappen tried to suggest to the team not to replace Lawson and give him some time, but was eventually rejected by the team.
Even if he is the highest paid driver in the paddock, there are still some things he cannot do. Verstappen cannot influence the team. What he can do is to keep his indifference to things he thinks are unreasonable, and keep his warmth for some people.
Some people become more charming as they age. Verstappen is one of those drivers.
If you are interested in F1, please check out the previous series of articles related to F1 in the column of QIUQI
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Curious｜When we learn about Australia from Ricciardo and Holden
Curious｜Toyota, starting a new adventure in autumn
Curious | F1's lower-tier team Williams believes success is just around the corner
