Experts tip Verstappen to ease racing aggression

Two prominent figures in Formula 1 believe Max Verstappen will ease his controversial wheel-to-wheel style for the decisive last four grands prix of 2024.

After the championship leader strategically beat title rival Lando Norris to the apex in their Austin stoush, running the overtaking McLaren off the track, it was Norris who received the 5-second penalty.

But in Mexico, in what some regard as similar incidents, it was Red Bull’s Verstappen who was punished - with not one but two 10-second penalties, and also two penalty points against his F1 super license.

When Franco Colapinto was told on the radio about Verstappen’s penalties, the Williams rookie replied: "20 second penalty? My God, what has he done?"

Verstappen, 27, left Mexico insisting that he would not tweak his driving style going forwards. And now, days ahead of the Brazilian GP, the Dutchman’s father Jos told f1-insider.com: "max should just carry on driving as he has been doing.

"I reminded him that Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher were also often subjected to harsh criticism from England," Verstappen senior added. "He is in very good company there."

However, former Haas team boss Gunther Steiner thinks the severity of the Mexican GP penalties will require Verstappen to tweak his style.

"We all know Max and the way he drives," he told Eurosport France. "I have a lot of respect for the way he looks for the limits of what is acceptable.

"In Austin, he said ’There are no limits for me - I’ll just keep attacking’. I don’t blame Max for that. I would rather blame the lack of a penalty in Austin.

"If he had had a 5-second penalty there, I’m sure he wouldn’t have done what he did in Mexico. If he gets an advantage, he always uses it. Max is that kind of driver. But now in Mexico with a big penalty, it changes."

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff agrees.

"I think that was a really good stewards decision (in Mexico) because it will now be clear in the future that this dirty driving is no longer allowed," he told Osterreich newspaper.

"A horrendous penalty of 20 seconds is the right precedent to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again."

Wolff is also quoted as saying by Kleine Zeitung newspaper: "When you get away with something, that’s the new limit. A driver will always push to the limit.

"We won’t see anything like what we saw in Mexico again - a Max Verstappen who pushes other drivers off the race track in a duel," the Austrian predicts.

Wolff says the message from the FIA is clear: "Brake late and drive the other car off the track is no longer acceptable. No longer allowed. And that’s good for the racing."

However, some experts and fans think that in a direct head-to-head for the championship, Norris is simply ’too nice’ to beat a driver of Verstappen’s attitude.

"In general, we could say yes - he is too nice," Steiner continued. "But I think Lando wants to race respectfully and fairly. Within the rules and nothing more.

"Norris could have crashed into Max once or twice, but it would not have helped him. But it also shows the kind of driver he is. He wants to show that he can do it fairly," Steiner added.