Verstappen to 'blame' for his rivals going racing The Max Way

As a fan, I acknowledge that Max Verstappen was naughty during a highly charged race, which turned into a sprint right at the end. That last chapter of an otherwise mundane afternoon in Barcelona saw the #1 Red Bull hit the track with Pirelli white band Hard tyres, while all around him were on the far more appropriate Red band Softs.

What transpired is well documented, herewith nutshelled: with inferior rubber, red mist blinded Verstappen, who lost the plot during an all too brief spell of enthralling racing, rammed Russell, got a ten-second penalty which turned P5 or P6 into P10, and as a result the World Champion is now a one strike away from a race ban that looms until the end of June.

How divisive was the Spanish saga? Very. On one side of F1 fandom, Max got Driver of the Day for his performance, while a World Champion and a Grand Prix winner reckon he should've been black flagged for his deliberate shenanigans.

Reading this, you probably place yourself within those two extremes of the spectrum of public opinion. I am in the middle. It was not a wise move. Verstappen agreed later, and that was that.

Being a super smart racer, albeit prone to petulance, it must be dawning on Verstappen, as it is on me, that the fear factor he once 'owned' in Formula 1 is dissipating. In Spain, I saw pretenders to the throne not shy to take the Dutch ace on wheel-to-wheel like never before. The Max Way.

As if hunting the King of the Lions, as a team. The growing Cubs are not shy to take a slap from the Big Cat, but nowadays they no longer cower away. Bigger, stronger, wiser, the Not-So-Little Cats are scratching back. And it is 'ouch' for the big guy.

Begging the question, why is Verstappen suddenly no longer intimidating his rivals? Who among them, even at the start of this season, would dare make some of the moves we saw on the Champ in Spain? What has gone wrong?

Apart from Red Bull crumbling as a team, reduced to one car, that of Max, the RB21 is simply junk at this stage of the season compared to the dominant McLarens and even the up-and-down Mercedes and Ferrari offerings. Verstappen's magic has limits, too.

However, my thoughts are shared and best summed up by Grand Prix winner turned F1 pundit Johnny Herbert: "I want all the drivers to be pushed to the absolute maximum. The move George Russell made on Max Verstappen was damn good. It was a move you'd expect from Verstappen."

"There's an element where Verstappen had scared other drivers off from attacking him because he could outfox them," ventured Herbert. "Now, the drivers are up for the challenge. Max is being attacked more often. I want to see the best driver come out on top.

"I hope we see that more often in this season and in 2026, hopefully in more equal machinery. We'll continue to see the McLarens and Verstappen competing for race wins, but you can throw in the likes of Russell and Charles Leclerc; they can take points off the likes of Norris, Piastri and Verstappen."

Herbert is spot on and articulated it far better than I could. Since his arrival on the scene and that first win in 2016, Verstappen has raised the bar on all levels of being the best Formula 1 driver of the current era, certainly this decade. And he does it every weekend still.

His tactics, his racecraft, his incidents, his genius, the replays are there to be studied. Thus, in this sport of almost zero margins, expect a lot of studying! Thus, it is no surprise that 'The Max Way' of going to war is now being used by his rivals against him.

Max has forced each of them to raise their game, collectively. As a pack. If you cannot beat him, join him. In this instance, race the way Verstappen races.

And in Spain, the most obvious to me, it seems that there has been a shift in the rules of engagement with Max, from the other drivers at the sharp end of proceedings. A factor that may make the Dutch ace, master intimidator, think twice about how he goes racing. More so pedalling a sh!tbox that is always chasing rather than dominating, like the glorious RB18 and RB19.

Throw into that the fact that in this era we have arguably the best spread of drivers ever in Formula 1. Several oozing talent and F1 title-winning credentials like seldom before in a single season.

So, while Verstappen remains the King of Formula 1, there is a clan gathering, ready and willing, to step up should he falter. Look no further than Piastri, Norris, Russell and Leclerc, starting to play ball the Max way. Hardball.