The Verstappen techniques that have made him F1’s benchmark driver

Even as early as his karting days Max Verstappen was showing some of the on-track style secrets that enable him to be so blindingly quick, explains BEN EDWARDS

Understanding the specific abilities of Formula 1 superstars is never easy. Max Verstappen is a key example and people fascinated by motorsport are always trying to work out how he performs at such an extreme level. Karun Chandhok often analyses those abilities for Sky F1, but he also remembers a day from our joint Channel 4 era when he first witnessed Verstappen in an F1 car while we were standing trackside at the Barcelona pre-season test.

“There was a point where we watched them coming into Turn 4,” Karun recalls. “As Max was braking and turning into the corner, the rear would start to slide and I thought, ‘He’s going to overheat the tyres, he’s lost it.’ But then I realised he did that every lap and he’s got this incredible ability to control the rear of the car on the brakes. It was much like they were doing in karting and I think it’s because he had such a strong karting pedigree.”