Max Verstappen’s Championship Success in Perspective: The Role of the Driver in Formula 1 Performance

Editorial

Tuesday, October 10, 2023 3:29 PM

According to Bert Wagendorp, columnist at De Volkskrant the performance of Max Verstappen, who won his third championship last Saturday, must be put into perspective. According to an analysis in the newspaper earlier this week, the driver is only 14 percent responsible for the car’s success and so in his view it has little to do with sports.

Comparing sports is of course very difficult, Verstappen himself also acknowledged that the appointment of ‘Sportsman of the Year’ is actually impossible and even called it ridiculous. “Seriously, I don’t even want to win. Isn’t it about finding someone better than someone else? I think it’s a ridiculous prize and not fair either. There are so many athletes who do so much for their sport and achieve great performances And then one person has to be chosen to win that stupid prize,” Verstappen said in Qatar.

Article continues below video

Success factors

In an analysis, Wagendorp points to four factors to map Verstappen’s success. For example, he initially talks about the factory in Milton Keynes, where the only goal is to build a car as quickly as possible. In his view, Verstappen simply benefits from this hard work. In addition, there is a leading role for the ‘technical wizard’ Adrian Newey and Verstappen simply comes from a racing family, so finding the ‘ideal line’ is a piece of cake for the Limburger. The last factor is optimal control of the car and only 14 percent of the success of this has to do with the driver.

Driver plays small role in performance

Verstappen is praised for his performance inside and outside Formula 1, but the columnist does not agree with that. “I was a bit disappointed that scientific research has shown that only fourteen percent of success in Formula 1 is due to the driver, the rest is due to the car, the engine, the mechanics and the underbody,” Wagendorp explains.

Wagendorp explains in his own way that the reigning Formula 1 champion recently refused to qualify for the title of Sportsman of the Year. “That seems to me to be a justified point of view, Max himself also seems to realize that his involvement with sports has little to do with sports. That title should go to Femke Bol or Mathieu van der Poel, who are one hundred percent responsible for their success and who in one race shows more clearly what top sport is all about than Max did in three seasons: not about the machine, but about the person.” The conclusion according to Wagendorp: “The sporting image of Formula 1 is bought with a lot of money, but it all has very little to do with sport as sport is intended.”

2023-10-10 13:31:43
#Volkskrant #Verstappens #title #means #Formula #sport