<\/p>
Max Verstappen is \u201cthis generation\u2019s version of Michael Schumacher\u201d according to Sky F1 expert Karun Chandhok.<\/p>\n
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com<\/a> ahead of the season-defining Formula 1 finale, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix<\/a>, Chandhok believes Verstappen\u2019s aggressive style is reminiscent of the legendary seven-time world champion amid numerous on-track scuffles with title rival Lewis Hamilton in 2021.<\/p>\n Tensions boiled over last weekend at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as several track infringements led to chaotic scenes between stewards, teams and drivers in real-time during the race before Verstappen braked to allow Hamilton to pass, only for Hamilton to smash into the tail end of his Red Bull.<\/p>\n The question around when courageous, brave battling on the track becomes sheer bad driving has boiled up all week in anticipation of the winner-takes-all final race, which both drivers enter with 396.5 points each.<\/p>\n Chandhok said: \u201cIt\u2019s a very good question. I\u2019ve been trying to understand myself in terms of what the rules of engagement are, in terms of what do the stewards and the officials think. I spent a bit of time last night reading through the rulebook and there isn\u2019t anything there in terms of clear rules of engagement.<\/p>\n \u201cEffectively, they\u2019ve left it to the discretion of the stewards and the drivers and said: \u2018Look, you\u2019re not allowed to crowd another competitor, you need to give them racing room etc etc\u2019 but it\u2019s sort of a verbal gentleman\u2019s agreement. And it\u2019s quite clear that is not working.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s quite clear that Max is pushing that whole rules of engagement thing to a different level that Lewis is in a way that I suppose Michael Schumacher did, in a very aggressive, uncompromising way. Max is this generation\u2019s version of Michael. It\u2019s been interesting talking to people like Damon [Hill] and Johnny [Herbert] who were obviously competitors of Michael and they saw that up close. The first thing Damon said is that Max\u2019s style of racing reminds him of Michael in \u201994.<\/p> \u201cHe just doesn\u2019t back down at any point and therefore it ends up getting into these sort of situations like Brazil, where they both ended up wide off the track, like we had in Saudi at Turn 2.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s where Lewis is a bit of a cleaner racer, I think. With Lewis, there are situations where he thinks: \u2018Okay, we\u2019re better off both not colliding and coming out of it nice and cleanly\u2019 and that\u2019s the different styles we\u2019re seeing.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat has become very clear, I think more so in Max\u2019s case, is that the gloves are well and truly off. He is prepared to throw the car down the inside into overtaking moves and put himself in situations which are a bit riskier than perhaps Lewis is. That\u2019s just his style of racing, you know, he\u2019s got a very uncompromising way of racing.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite his perceived ferocity on track in the Red Bull, Verstappen has impressed Chandhok with his calm temperament and mature head.<\/p>\n The Sky F1 expert said:\u00a0\u201cHe\u2019s hugely impressive. He\u2019s 24 years old and it\u2019s hard for us to keep remembering that because he\u2019s 24, he\u2019s fighting for the world\u2019s biggest crown in his sporting field, and he is so mature beyond his years and so calm beyond his years.<\/p>\n \u201cI go back to Zandvoort, the 2021 Dutch Grand Prix, that race is basically designed for him. I\u2019ve never been to a race where 99 per cent of the crowd were for one driver. Zandvoort was basically a race designed for Max.<\/p>\n \u201cThe royal family is there queuing up to shake his hand, the papers have wall to wall coverage, but there were a couple of mornings where he and I ended up walking from the motor homes to the garages together and we could have been at the Chinese Grand Prix, he was just so calm.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d say until qualifying in Saudi Arabia, he\u2019s been pretty error-free. He\u2019s not really made any mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking for something else to watch, check out our\u00a0<\/b>TV Guid<\/b>e<\/strong><\/span><\/a> or visit our Sport<\/a> hub.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Michael Potts Published: Thursday, 09 December 2021 at 12:00 am Max Verstappen is \u201cthis generation\u2019s version of Michael Schumacher\u201d according to Sky F1 expert Karun Chandhok. Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com ahead of the season-defining Formula 1 finale, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Chandhok believes Verstappen\u2019s aggressive style is reminiscent of the legendary seven-time world […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":8485,"template":"","categories":[1,7,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/karun-chandhok-max-verstappen-is-this-f1-generations-michael-schumacher.jpg",1024,683,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/karun-chandhok-max-verstappen-is-this-f1-generations-michael-schumacher-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/karun-chandhok-max-verstappen-is-this-f1-generations-michael-schumacher-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/karun-chandhok-max-verstappen-is-this-f1-generations-michael-schumacher-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/karun-chandhok-max-verstappen-is-this-f1-generations-michael-schumacher.jpg",800,534,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/karun-chandhok-max-verstappen-is-this-f1-generations-michael-schumacher.jpg",1024,683,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/karun-chandhok-max-verstappen-is-this-f1-generations-michael-schumacher.jpg",1024,683,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Michael Potts Published: Thursday, 09 December 2021 at 12:00 am Max Verstappen is \u201cthis generation\u2019s version of Michael Schumacher\u201d according to Sky F1 expert Karun Chandhok. Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com ahead of the season-defining Formula 1 finale, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Chandhok believes Verstappen\u2019s aggressive style is reminiscent of the legendary seven-time world…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/8484"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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