Is this what separates the Red Bull driver from his peers on the F1 grid?
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| © Red Bull Content Pool |
Max Verstappen's 'selfish' streak has been labelled as a key differentiator between the four-time F1 champion and his rivals.
Verstappen has become renowned over the years for his ruthlessness on track, earning him his four drivers' titles, 71 grands prix victories, and 48 pole positions.
It has led to criticism of the Red Bull driver at times and proven detrimental, as was the case last year when he deliberately turned into the Mercedes of George Russell during the Spanish Grand Prix.
The incident earned Verstappen a time penalty, relegating him from fifth at the chequered flag to 10th on the classification, with the lost points playing a role in the 28-year-old Dutchman missing out on a fifth consecutive crown.
Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya can relate to Verstappen's attitude on track, and to the way he conducts himself off it, in not wanting to get too friendly with his rivals.
"I would wake up and figure out how I could beat the hell out of everybody," said the seven-time grand prix winner on the Chequered Flag podcast with Damon Hill. "You've got to be selfish.
"You know, for me, it's shocking. You look at them [the F1 drivers], they all go play padel together, and they're really good friends and go for dinner together."
"But that's why Max is good, because he doesn't play along."
Suggested to Montoya that Verstappen and Bortoleto have developed a good friendship over time, notably sim racing together, Montoya replied: "But if Bortoleto was competitive, in a competitive car, the friendship would still be there?
"So you're going to tell me when Max cuts [gets cut up by Bortoleto], he's going to go, 'I'm not going to dive bomb and put you in the wall like I do everybody else'. Come on!"
- Ian Parkes
