Verstappen's Ability That All Greatest Drivers Had Identified By Newey

Monday, 08 January 2024 at 10:00

The chief technical officer of Red Bull Racing recently named one ability that he could observe in all the greatest drivers he ever worked with, including Max Verstappen.

Adrian Newey worked with several world champions before Max Verstappen, including Sebastian Vettel, Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, Ayrton Senna, and Alian Prost.

In his recent interview, the Brit pinpointed one trait about Verstappen that he believes all the great F1 drivers had. Newey told motorsport.com:

"I think Max, like all the truly great drivers, you have the impression that he can drive the car almost sub-consciously. And that then leaves him with plenty of processing power to think about what the car is doing. "

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This is something people have said about Fernando Alonso as well. They said the Spanish matador used only 10% of his brain for driving, which left 90% to process the best strategies and manage the race. Newey continued:

"[That means] how he can modify his driving to suit the car, how he can change the set-up via the electronic tools on the steering wheel to assist him in what he’s trying to achieve at that particular point in the race and the particular deg the tires are suffering and whatever."

His car might have played a role in allowing him to do so, but the triple World Champion has been the best throughout the season in terms of managing tires.

Managing tires means the 26-year-old was able to find the ideal window in which to work with them, which resulted in lower degradation, longer distance, and better pace. Newey added:

"So, that kind of ability to drive the car extremely quickly, but still have constant reserve is something which Max very clearly has and I would say all the true greats that I’ve worked with have also been the same."