Opinion: is Max Verstappen the most polarising driver on the F1 grid?

I really don't want to stray too far into Natalie's territory here. She is informed and immersed in the world of F1. I just watch it on the TV at home. However, I think it’s time to reassess Max Verstappen. Not his skill as a driver nor the relentless, high-energy style that dazzles spectators and destroys team-mates. He is a genius behind the wheel, up there with the greatest of all time. That is fact, undisputed and undeniable. And I love watching him extract (or should that be invent?) performance through sheer force of will.

But as a bloke he has, up to now, been mostly pretty hard to like.

How so? Well, for a guy who clearly adores driving and racing, Max’s demeanour could largely be described as ‘a bit grumpy’. Just one glimpse of positivity might be nice. Then there’s the way he goes racing. The ‘never give an inch’ style can be fun to watch and creates fantastic drama. When there’s a proper wheel-to-wheel dice between equally matched cars, Max is nothing short of heroic.

Yet, whenever there’s a performance deficit and the Red Bull looks vulnerable, the tendency to just drive people off the track gets a bit boring and feels slightly ridiculous. Toys and prams come to mind.

The collision with Russell at the Spanish GP was a case in point. The team around him spoke of British bias despite the F1 media – perhaps terrified of losing their access – speaking in riddles about “misjudgement” and claiming not to be qualified to comment or condemn as they haven’t ever driven in F1. But anyone with eyes could see Max drove into Russell in a fit of pique. Be they Dutch, British or from Mars.

Yet, Max suddenly has moments where he seems like an absolute dude. Firstly, after the birth of his first child and all sorts of questions about whether it might slow him down, he delivers a scintillating pole position lap in Miami against superior cars. Just a week later he adopts the pseudonym Franz Hermann in a test of a Ferrari 296 GT3 racer on the old Nürburgring. And promptly breaks the lap record. Only for another regular ’Ring racing driver to suggest he wasn’t running the correct Balance of Performance, thereby making the laps incomparable. Max, cool as a cucumber, replied to the social media post with the facts and wished his colleague luck for the weekend. Cold. And brilliant.

Other signs he’s a thoroughly good human? Well, while the rest of the drivers attended a private F1 movie screening before the Monaco GP, Max instead chose to spend time with his family. “It wasn’t a mandatory event,” he explained. “And I prefer to spend that private time at home, especially because in Formula One you’re away from home so much already.” Here’s a man with his priorities in order.

Still don’t believe me? OK, consider finally that as the rest of the F1 drivers and team managers got all dressed up for the official premiere of the same movie in New York, Max again exercised his right to stay away. Franz Hermann was back. This time testing an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 at Spa-Francorchamps. Simply lovely.