PETER COSTER looks at Max Verstappen’s charge towards another world championship and the re-emergence of Fernando Alonso as a cult hero.
So cool, he could laugh about having “almost knocked myself out on that kerb” five laps from the finish of the Canadian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen led yet another race from start to finish and is well on the way to a third world championship driver’s title.
So relaxed, he could joke on team radio with his race engineer about what could have been a race-ending moment, gives and insight into the mind-set of the current F1 champion.
He was physically knocked out in 2021 at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone when Lewis Hamilton refused to give way going into Copse and Verstappen hit the barriers.
The impact was calculated at 52g, which is more than a jet fighter pilot would experience, unless he were crashing the plane.
But F1 drivers have a detached attitude to such incidents, as world champion Phil Hill once said, it’s “like posting a letter” and it it’s gone.
Although the American who drove for Ferrari did say on his retirement that he was “no longer willing to risk killing myself.”
Embed from Getty ImagesThree men who are still willing to take that risk stood on the podium at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve at Montreal on Sunday.
All multiple world champions in Verstappen, approaching three, Fernando Alonso with two and Lewis Hamilton on seven, having been prevented from gaining an eighth when a decision by the race director at Abu Dhabi saw back makers between Hamilton snd Verstappen told to drop back, allowing the Dutchman to pass on fresher tyres.
Australian race director Michael Masi has since found himself out a job and back home as chairman go the domestic Supercars series.
Alonso, driving for Aston Martin alongside Lance Stroll, the son of the team’s Canadian billionaire owner, Lawrence Stroll, might have challenged Verstappen for the lead, but was running low on fuel and had rear brake problems.
Not that he was unhappy with a place on the podium, having been there six times in eight races this year.
“Fernando, Fernando,” the Aston Martin mechanics were chanting at Montreal, sounding more like Abba.
The Spaniard, the oldest driver on the grid, if that means anything, has been on the podium more than 100 times in an illustrious career that includes the Indianapolis 500 and the Le Mans 24-hour race.
Hamilton, who some might suppose is getting too old for F1 at 38 has several seasons ahead of him based on the Fernando example.
“You’re never too old.”
And Verstappen, well he’s only 25, but he’s a veteran, having started in F1 when he was 17.
The Canadian race itself was a pedestrian affair behind Verstappen, who brought Red Bull Racing its 100th Grand Prix.
Car designer Andrew Newey has been with Red bull for all those victories and 100 more with other teams, with seven different drivers winning the world championship in cars of his design.
The F1 circus now moves on to Austria and its home Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, where Red Ball will be keen to build its surely assailable lead in the driver and constructor world championships.
For the rest, there has been a dramatic reshuffle.
Mercedes have pushed Ferrari back on the grid while Aston Martin goes from strength to strength, mainly because of Alonso.
Motor sport requires giving your driver the best car although elite drivers can extract more from poor machinery than others.
This appeared to reverse itself when Daniel Ricciardo, who won seven GPs for Red Bull, was sacked by McLaren for lack of performance, being replaced by Melbourne driver Oscar Piastri, who is scoring points in his rookie year.
Ricciardo scored a win for McLaren at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in 2021 after Verstappen and Hamilton collided and slid off the track, but Ricciardo was already in the lead.
Now a reserve driver for Red Bull and a glad hander for the team at sponsor track days, the Australian hopes to find a seat with a leading team next year.
His latest foray as been with sports network ESPN as a commentator, but that has met with mixed reviews, mainly negative.
Red Bull is likely to stick with Sergio Perez next year and Ferrari will keep Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, in spite of a lack of results.
Hamilton will sign for Mercedes and George Russell is not going anywhere.
Fernando reigns at Aston Martin and majority owner Lawrence Stroll is unlikely to sack his son.
Family connections still count in F1, although it usually involves money and advertising dollars.
Mick Schumacher, who was dropped by Haas after regularly destroying their cars and, like Ricciardo is a reserve driver, hopes to be back on the grid next year.
He has hinted in an interview that he may be a replacement for Williams driver Logan Sargeant in Austria.
Being the son of Michel Schumacher is undoubtedly a positive when it comes to team recognition, although Williams is more impoverished than American term Haas and less able to afford Schumacher’s frequent trips into the barriers.
The positive in Formula One may be the domination of Red Bull and Verstappen, but there are many joining the mechanics’ chant of Fernando.
As the song goes: “Can you hear the drums, Fernando?”
PETER COSTER is a former editor and foreign correspondent who has covered a range of international sports, including world championship fights and the Olympic Games.
Discussion about this post