Dutch teenager Max Verstappen is splitting opinions in Formula One after a Belgian Grand Prix which saw him in an aggressive racing duel with Ferrari veteran Kimi Raikkonen.
Verstappen, cheered on by thousands of Dutch fans at Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday, was the centre of attention after a race won by Nico Rosberg from pole position.
Rosberg’s smooth victory, a tremendous drive from the last row to third place by his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton and a huge crash by Renault’s Kevin Magnussen, who suffered only a minor injury, were among the highlights.
But it was the Raikkonen-Verstappen on-track duel and a war of words between the drivers afterwards which proved the chief talking point of an incident-packed race.
Raikkonen, who had also clashed with Verstappen at the Hungarian GP, warned that the 18-year-old’s aggressive driving style will lead to a big accident.
“I’m fine with fair racing and close battles, but, in my opinion, what happened at (high-speed turn) Eau Rouge with Verstappen was not correct,” he said. “I was going full speed and I had to back off before Turn 5 because he just turned in front of me when I tried to overtake him. I’ve never had that with any other driver, if I hadn’t braked hard I would have hit him at full speed and it would have ended up in a massive accident.”
An unrepentant Verstappen responded: “I was defending my position — if someone doesn’t like it that’s their problem.”
Former world champion Niki Lauda, a non-executive chairman of the Mercedes F1 team, said Verstappen was the “talent of the century but he has to use his head and not endanger others.”
Lauda said Verstappen “still has to go back to school,” and “belongs in psychiatry.” He added he would “have to speak to his father (former F1 racer Jos Verstappen).”
Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff meanwhile likened Verstappen to F1 great Ayrton Senna and world champion Hamilton.
“He is refreshing for me. He is a young boy I like a lot,” Wolff said. “He comes in here with no fear, no respect, puts the elbows out. It reminds me of the great ones — it reminds me of Lewis (Hamilton), of Ayrton Senna.
“You can see that some guys are starting to think twice about how to overtake him.”
Verstappen was signed by Red Bull from feeder team Toro Ross in May and promptly won on his Red Bull debut at the Spanish Grand Prix to become F1’s youngest winner.
He has since had four podium places, and another looked possible after he qualified on the front row at Spa. However a first-turn collision with the Ferraris of Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel compromised the races of all three, and Verstappen eventually finished 11th.
Four-time world champion Vettel remained conciliatory after an accident for which he was probably to blame.
“But I’m not a fan of penalising people, it’s not the way to educate, we need to talk to each other, we need to have respect,” he said
Vettel said there had “been a couple of manoeuvres that the rest of the field is not happy with,” but added: “I get along with him, I like him, he’s aggressive and I think that’s a strength for him, but certain movements, especially under braking which I faced when I was racing with him, I don’t think are correct.”