Ex-Formula 1 driver Johnny Herbert has an interesting theory that Michael Schumacher's ruthless streak and style of racing is deeply ingrained into Max Verstappen by his father Jos.
Interesting because on Sunday at the Austrian Grand Prix, I saw the wickedness of the Schumie kind in full display. As did the rest of the sensible F1 world, Herbert included. Make no mistake Schumacher is one of the two or three greatest drivers ever to have lived. But the F1 and Ferrari legend had some famous quirks.
Same thing Ayrton Senna before him. Of many contentious moments, peppered along the great Brazilian's decade in F1, both incidents with Alain Prost at Suzuka are prime examples of that 'wickedness' the greats contain in their armoury. The Frenchman included.
Max Emilian Verstappen. The son of Jos Verstappen and Sophie Kumpen, both handy race drivers, was always going to go racing. And as the Kid inevitably progressed into junior Karting, Jos sacrificed a career in top tier motorsport to become his son's mechanic and manager.
Their journey is well told, turning the precocious lad into the Winning Machine we have today. One of the finest and fastest drivers of all time. Respected and even feared by his rivals. Many of whom often point to the 26-year-old Red Bull driver being in another league
Jos and Michael were teammates at Benetton for eight GPs
Where does the genius of Max come from? To be honest, Jos was a a good racing driver (around Magnussen-Hulkenberg level I would imagine) and by far nothing like Max levels. Hence the Schumacher connection.
Over to Herbert soon. But first, it should be remembered that the 60-year-old Briton was Schumacher's teammate at Benetton for a couple of races in 1994 and for the 1995 season. There he would have been privy to his teammate's
modus operandi.
Ditto Jos. Before Herbert was there, in 1994, Verstappen Snr. spent eight GPs as Schumacher's teammate also at Benetton. The Dutchman would also have seen first-hand how the German went about his business.
From that and his own experience in motorsport, including 107 F1 starts, Jos (52) may have derived the template to turn his son into the racing force that Max has become since he bagged his first F1 title in 2021. This year he is cruising to his fourth, with many more to come it would seem
Talent, perfection, exceptional, ruthless, uncompromising, single-minded, just great...
Those are just some of the words Schumacher's rivals used to describe him, around the time he won his first F1 title. Long before he won six more. Do they sound familiar? Deja vu stuff!
Expanding on his Max-Schumie theory, Herbert told Coin Poker: "Jos Verstappen would’ve seen Michael Schumacher drive first-hand and has ingrained German’s driving style into his son
Yes, I can. Look at Michael’s incidents with Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve for instance. He would do anything he could to benefit from a certain situation. Jos, his father, drove with Michael at Benetton and he would have seen first-hand those incidents how Michael operated.
"I can imagine him saying to Max in his younger days: I want you to drive and intimidate everyone off the circuit effectively. You make sure that you win the race by being the toughest driver.
"The way Max drives will have been shaped a lot by Jos’s input and his own experiences of driving with Michael Schumacher. It will never change. It is ingrained in him," reckoned Herbert.
Notably another familiar trait that Max has is straight out of the Schumacher Handbook. The first thing he does in any session, especially FP1 or first hours of testing, when he can is put down an early marker lap that has everyone scratching heir heads. Teammates in the same car included.
Norris versus Verstappen how bitter will it get?
No matter how you look at it, good or bad, sporting or not, it is racing and Lando Norris versus Max Verstappen, another buddies-turned-rivals F1 tale, has 'accidentally' fired up this season. They are the two outstanding drivers of this current era and of their generation.
With cars capable of battling for pole and P1 on the podium every race weekend expect more 'this tarmac is mine, not yours' incidents of bent metal unless Max and Lando sit down for an ice cream and a chat to set out a set of rules of engagement for the next one. There will be more, many we hope. And, as mates, they owe it to each other to make it work.
While Max might care not, I as one of his biggest fans can only say I was disappointed, and hope he and Lando sort it out. They're too good for what happened on Sunday. (Johnny Herbert quotes supplied by Coin Poker media team)
Big Question: Is Max Verstappen a Michael Schumacher clone?
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