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Ferrari face reality while McLaren’s progress is starting to be noted | Giles Richards

Scuderia admit risks need to be taken in Montreal, it’s looking good for Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc’s season is becoming a fast track of learning experiencesMercedes came within a whisker of losing a win that was in their hands in Monaco. Having put Lewis Hamilton on the medium tyres, the team principal, Toto Wolff, admitted the British driver had saved their race in bringing his car home and preventing Max Verstappen having a chance to pass. It was welcome for giving the race a tense climax that would otherwise have been lacking. Hamilton was vocal about his concerns throughout, which have been criticised but are the understandable complaining of a driver in a pressure situation he could do nothing...

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Max Verstappen will be compelling F1 watch, more so if engine can deliver

Dutchman is starting his fifth season in F1 and the principal thinks that the 21-year-old’s work with Honda will produce a more invested and rounded driverMad Max no more was the Red Bull team principal Christian Horner’s assessment of his driver Max Verstappen’s forthcoming season. Horner, always engaging in discussing the characters of his drivers, was confident that this year it will be mature Max behind the wheel. Yet the test the young Dutchman faces may be his most challenging; watching whether he can deliver on Horner’s optimism should be compelling.Verstappen is 21, and has an undeniable talent, aligned to a forceful, uncompromising self belief that has been at times to his detriment as well as his advantage. In both...

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Max Verstappen would have won race if he had let Esteban Ocon through | Giles Richards

The feisty Dutchman cost himself victory in Brazil and caused a lot of trouble by not letting the Force India driver unlap himselfYoung, feisty, uncompromising, unapologetic and talented – we already knew that about Max Verstappen but it turns out he is sweary too and not adverse to being a tad fighty. If he is auditioning as a role model for teenage rebels, this wild one may as well be fitted for his “What’ve you got?” leathers now.Yet for all the uproar and condemnation of his altercation with Esteban Ocon at the Brazilian Grand Prix, the incident, a moment of public emotion increasingly rare in F1, should be the least of his regrets after Sunday’s race. Related: Max Verstappen hits...

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Max Verstappen hits 21 and skips from boy racer to seasoned F1 veteran | Giles Richards

The Red Bull driver’s exhilarating charge from 19th to fifth at the Russian Grand Prix showed character and maturityStrong-willed, opinionated, uncompromising: Max Verstappen has always insisted that, when it came to his driving, only one person knew best – Max. Even under a barrage of criticism this season Verstappen vowed he would not change his style. Related: Mercedes team orders leave a sour taste in Sochi as Ferrari struggle again Continue reading...

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Sebastian Vettel has questions to answer as he lets slip a great chance | Giles Richards

Ferrari had looked strong going into the Italian Grand Prix but did not make the most of it while Max Verstappen shows the trait of champions in believing he can do no wrongFerrari and Sebastian Vettel must have concerns about how they did not manage to return the win that had looked so likely as the Italian Grand Prix weekend progressed. Related: Pressure on Lewis Hamilton in F1 duel the ‘highest I can ever remember’ Related: Lewis Hamilton wins Italian Grand Prix after early clash with Sebastian Vettel Continue reading...

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