F1 Half Term Report: Rate the Grid - Max Verstappen

[Paul Jeffrey]

Hugely talented and blindingly fast, Max Verstappen has had a disappointing season by his own standards in 2017, however what do our readers make of the performances from the Red Bull youngster?

Without a victory from the first 10 races of the season and trailing team mate Daniel Ricciardo in the championship standings, Verstappen will perhaps feel the opening exchanges of 2017 haven't quite gone the way the Dutchman would like so far this year.

Stand out performances mixed with lost opportunities and unfortunate accidents, Verstappen has been both sublime and clumsy in equal measure this season, occasionally showing his lack of big time experience when the situation most calls for a level head and mature performance.

Conversely the highs of the year for Verstappen have been high indeed, with many of his performances out on the circuit again showing just how much raw talent sits behind the helmet of the #33 Red Bull man. Fast, exciting and a firm fan favourite, Verstappen continues to add that little extra spice in modern Grand Prix racing.

How do you, the fans, rate the first half of the season for "Mad Max"?


Vote now to tell us how you rate the first half of 2017 for Max Verstappen, and leave a comment below!

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[Peugeot905]

He has been very very fast this season. Having a qualifying record of 7-4 to Daniel Riccardo which is very impressive. Also being ahead of Riccardo in many of the races before he ran into issues. I think Verstappen gets blamed for alot of problems that are out of his control. My rating for him would be a 8 or 9. But i voted 9 .

 

[Tobiman]

He has the speed but really needs to chill a bit especially on first laps. Sometimes, being aggressive works out for him but this year has shown otherwise, for the most part. Hence why I can only blame him for most of the mishaps he's experiencing. When you try to go three wide into a corner that can only take two cars, there's bound to be an accident. You can't faint ignorance by claiming you didn't see so and so.
With that said, I think the dude is extremely lucky. He has another 15-20 years to challenge for the world title. He can afford to make mistakes now.

 

[Leonardo Chaves]

I'm going with 8, i think he's a terrific talent, but he still needs to figure out how to use his aggression in his favour, right now he's always on edge and a bit of a "sore loser" when it comes to wheel to wheel battles.

 

[Deleted member 217114]

Just like some few here he needs to tone down his agression in the first few laps, but in general he could be an real winner if he matures.

 

[Nick Milton]

I rated 9 , just needs to mature a little, super fast ,and seems a nice guy, he'll be there, but with red bull? Me thinks ferrari!

 

[snyperal]

I've always enjoyed his lack of fear. It's cost him a couple of times, but defending vettel at silverstone was hugely ballsy.

 

[pcraenme]

Improved his qualifying this year (quicker than Ricciardo this year) and I think he only made one mistake so far when he hit his teammate in the last grandprix (btw the penalty he got for this was maybe correct, but then Bottas should have got some penalties in earlier races as well). And he immediately apologized after the race to Ricciardo, showing also growth in that area. He has been very unfortunate this year. The races his car did not break down (or someone else hit him), the top 2 team cars did get to the finish, so only a maximum 5th place was possible. His teammate was more lucky in this area scoring more podiums and in one race (I think it was Monaco) his team 'sacrifised' him in favour of Ricciardo. Only one podium so far. In general his performance is better than last year (which was already on a very high level), but he just needs some luck (or some rain ). So, my score... a 9.

 

[James Cook]

Undoubtedly talented but just a bit impatient/reckless sometimes.

Still very young, still learning and only going to get better. He will be a multiple world champion without a doubt.

 

[Rob]

Hugely talented and blindingly fast

Talent? Hugely dangerous, yes. A blight on F1? Yes. Propped up by the sycophantic media? Yes. If he were Italian or (God Forbid) American, he would be attacked instead of defended.

 

[thatmotorfreak]

Great driver, but had some pretty bad luck so far. A few reliability issues thanks to Red Bull (Bahrain, Canada, and Baku) and even some early DNF's thanks to someone punting a car directly into him (Spain and Austria).

At least he didn't crash in Monaco this year.

 

[Coffer]

8.3-8.4, voted 8. Definitely one of the better drivers this season, but his luck was absolutely horrid early on in the season, while in recent races Ricciardo's once again gotten closer than he should've. Really needs to stop driving like an idiot - his wheel to wheel skills are the worst on the grid by far right now, and the new regulations are especially good for protecting this sort of behavior.

 

[Ultrax]

max take f1 to the next level. before max was racing like a train nothing happens.
i wish there are more drivers like max verstappen thats racing.

 

[Klodian Stafa]

unlucky

he could be better in 2nd half

 

[M-Bimmer]

After a great season in 2016, he became a bit coc..

Qualy wise he is doing better than Ric. and that's great but he is so impatient and too aggressive atm.
Taking out Ric. in Hungary affected my rating dramatically. Yeah he had bad luck with his car & all but then when all was fine he was too optimistic with some moves.

A lot of races left so hopefully he chills out during the summer vacation and shows us some quality racing like he did in 2016.

 

[Bert Austen]

Very good and fast all the time , my landsman .....give him the good and reliable car , and he is world champion

 

[pcraenme]

Really needs to stop driving like an idiot - his wheel to wheel skills are the worst on the grid by far right now, and the new regulations are especially good for protecting this sort of behavior.

Hmmm.. so Lance Stroll's or Jolyon Palmer's wheel to wheel skills are better than Max's? I am glad the regulations have changed a bit this year. Please let these drivers RACE each other! Just lookup some old footage on Senna or Schumacher... or did they drive as idiots as well? F1 needs more 'idots' like Max then.

 

[pcraenme]

Talent? Hugely dangerous, yes. A blight on F1? Yes. Propped up by the sycophantic media? Yes. If he were Italian or (God Forbid) American, he would be attacked instead of defended.

Maybe ask a few Italians what they think of Max and if they want to have him drive for Ferrari? You may be surprised! If you don't think Max is talented, then a lot of people like Niki Lauda, David Coulthard, Eddie Jordan, etc., etc., may be wrong about him?

 

[Ricardo Rey]

I gave a 9. I have pros and cons about him, but I think as he matures he will be a great asset to F1.

 

[Jos Swarthoff]

It seems people are voting for the reliabilty of the car, not max himself