“He’s Reaching the Next Level”: Dutch Lion Max Verstappen’s Beast Like Mentality Hailed for His Utterly Dominant 2022 Display

If you’d have to guess what the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix winner would go on to do in F1, you’d probably say that he had the talent and pace to become a World Champion, but maybe not the temperament. Max Verstappen is now a 2x Champion. But what’s changed?

Arguably, there has been a profound change in how the Dutch driver had evolved as a driver and a person. There has been an apparent shift in his personality and mentality after winning his maiden World Title.

On the F1 Nation podcast, Damon Hill and Jolyon Palmer discussed exactly this. 1996 F1 Champ, Hill said, “He’s reaching that next level, isn’t he?”

“He didn’t seem to have the same reaction to his competition with Charles as he had with Lewis.” said the Brit on being asked what’s different from 2021.

Palmer added, “Last year, he made very few mistakes and was in the tight fight. This year he’s just been relentless. I think the change that I see is not necessarily…it’s more just the mentality.”

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You’d think now Max Verstappen wouldn’t have any doubters as to his pure driving caliber and ability. But as it turns out, there seems to be one detractor, and what’s more? He’s from within the Red Bull camp.

Senior Red Bull man makes shocking Max Verstappen claim

Max Verstappen is the king of F1 right now. And he’s earned the accolade, too. That being said, according to Guillaume Rocquelin, who currently is the head of the Driver Academy at Red Bull, feels Verstappen lacks substantially in one aspect. And this one’s big.

While talking to the ‘Les Fous du Volant’ podcast, he said, “Max has always been a boss. He has enormous self-confidence, he knows what he wants and he is very direct.”

“But I’ll be honest, Max is weak technically compared to other drivers we’ve worked with. I think he still has a lot of progress to make.”

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But does it matter if Max Verstappen is ‘technically weak’ as he has still gone on to win two consecutive driver’s titles?