Paddock Patrol

F1 with a lot of Verstappen

[thissying]

pre-race rituals, GP Spa, 2026

[grogumaximus]

Autohebdo July 15, 2026 – Laurent Mekies, Team Principal of Red Bull Racing

EXTRAORDINARY! That's the word that spontaneously comes to mind when I think of Max. What he achieves behind the wheel, which is visible to everyone, his ability to push the limits, lap after lap, race after race, year after year, is simply prodigious. Words fail us when it comes to him; he's incredible in every area. In everything he does, he sets new standards. His technical acumen and his absolutely exceptional feedback mean that he constantly points out solutions we would never have considered if he hadn't shown us the way. As I often say, Max is the best sensor we have on the car. He's constantly striving for performance, without the slightest compromise. His level of commitment and his deep understanding of the complexity of the team's work go far beyond anything I've ever experienced before. He has this innate understanding of the many people around him who work to improve the car's performance; he knows It's about choosing the right words with each of them to help them give their best. This mindset suits the team perfectly and explains the incredibly close partnership with Red Bull. Sometimes, I think it's very easy to underestimate Max's central role in the team. He isn't separate from Red Bull Racing; they are inseparable. We could stop there and say how much of an asset he is to us, but that would still be an understatement. If the driver is extraordinary, the man is even more so. If you call him at any time, he'll be training on the simulator. And if he's not on the simulator, he'll be behind the wheel of a car somewhere in Europe. That speaks volumes about the intensity of his personality. Max, a true racing prodigy, wasn't just born into the world of racing; he was born for racing. It runs in his veins and fuels his champion's heart, raised on Karting tracks, which quickly led to his rise to Formula 1. It's this extraordinary trajectory, already boasting four world titles, that I invite you to discover as you read on. A trajectory that reflects the man and the driver. Extraordinary!

[paddockpatrol]

While I am enjoying my weekend at Spa immensely, the other categories make it painfully clear just how much F1 has lost with this regulation set. All others rocket out of Raidillon on the ragged edge onto the straight. F1.... immediately slows down to harvest before Kemmel.

It is painful

[musicandcoffeeandmax]

What's the secret to defeat the curse you ask? Wearing Max underwear, of course!

[grogumaximus]

17.07.2026 Interview with Play Sports

You became a father last year. I did too, in September. You're having a special first child. Everyone always says that. It changes a lot in your life. Yes, but it is true, isn't it? How has that changed you? Because for me, it has had a gigantic impact on my life.

Max: Yes, I already had a stepdaughter, of course. And that was from her first year, so to speak. Yes. So I’ve already experienced a lot, so to speak. And because of that, I think it was, so to speak, less shocking. Because ultimately, in our family, in our daily life, nothing really changed. (...) Of course, the very first for me. But yes, in terms of daily life and how we did things, so to speak, that was already the case now. Yes, you furnished an extra room for her. And of course, that first year of life is perhaps a bit harder to sleep in. And a bit more complicated. But generally speaking, it went pretty smoothly.

Maybe it isn't incredibly hard on a weekend like that? You were away for eight days last month, and that gets worse and worse, doesn't it?

Max: Yes, fortunately, you can FaceTime, of course. But for example, you sometimes get videos. And I have my own room now where I keep, let's say, my cups and helmets and my simulators. And she already knows that that is my room. So every time she goes there now, because she can walk now and she opens that door. And then it's like, 'Papa, papa.' But yeah, he's not there, of course. And then I get that video forwarded to me. Then you do think…

It breaks your heart a little bit?

Max: Yeah, then you do think, 'Shit. Yeah, do something.' Yeah, that is a bit less nice to see, of course. Then you naturally always try to get back home as quickly as possible.

Do you both have that, by the way? Maybe a question for you both. I want my children to race. You don't have any yet. You (Max) have a daughter now. Would you like that?

Max: I always say no. I hope they don't do it. But on the other hand, you know, if you then.. well, boy or girl, it doesn't matter. But when you see that they are doing everything they can. To make it a success. You see, of course… First of all, they need to have talent. If they don't have talent, (...) Then you might as well stop immediately. And I think I would always be reasonably clear about that. You do have to be honest… I think that is, of course, quite difficult as parents. To be honest with your own child. But you just have to assess it clearly. But if she were to have talent, and she works hard enough for it, for example. Then… Yes, why not? Then you’re not going to hold her back either. And on the other hand, I just hope she chooses something she naturally enjoys. Naturally, you support her fully in that.

[lost-in-fandoms]

GP at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 17, 2026 by Clive Rose

[thissying]

press conference, GP Spa, 2026

"I know you’ve obviously got your sim racing team and the GT3 team as well. How much do you see that kind of thing as part of your long-term future, even beyond Formula 1, in terms of finding the next generation of talent and team ownership? Could that even extend into F1 one day, do you think?"

[grogumaximus]

2023 FIA Prize Giving, Max Verstappen and Dries van Langendonck playing mario kart

[f1reasons]

Max Verstappen and F1's Obsession with 'Fairness'

Giving this an official title makes it seem like this is going to be some kind of well thought out think piece, but no it's just me rambling and venting. There are two main things my thoughts are circling around. The first can be encapsulated by the incident in Miami with Carlos complaining about Max's dive bomb and the second can be encapsulated by the unsurprising discussion about Isack and the second seat curse. I'll take each separately, but I think in the end they are connected and they are both used to demonize Max.

So I was pretty intentional about putting the fairness in quotes. Because I don't think the obsession is with actual fairness. It is obsessed with the perception of fairness, the image of fairness. Now, for this I'm speaking mostly about certain large sectors of the fandom and also about huge sectors of the media sphere. I have watched the Miami race and the overtake on Carlos a few times. Now there aren't that many angles to it, but I cannot for the life of me see where Carlos was pushed off track and I cannot see any contact. What I saw was an aggressive ultra late on the brakes dive bomb. Carlos was startled and angry about the move. I don't actually care much about that. I take every angry radio message with a grain of salt. They are driving around with heart rates around 150 - 180 (sometimes higher) and the stakes are incredibly high for each and every one of them. So they get somewhat of a pass. (Though I will say what every Max fan said at the time. "Yes, Carlos, he can do whatever he wants. Wherever he is.") But the fans and content creators and journos get no pass, no grace. The hate started almost immediately. "Max can't drive." "Max is dangerous." "It was within the rules, but I can't condone what Max did there." and most importantly "Max drives dirty." What are we fucking talking about? Not only was what he did fully within the rules it was what racing is supposed to be. Brave, bold, beautiful or sometimes ugly, but always brave and bold. It was after this that I came to understand the contingent of fans who like/love the new regs. It was like a lightbulb going off. The battery overtakes are clean, simple, and uncomplicated. No one needs to look or decide or adjudicate. No one needs to defend or be angry. They can just get their own battery and pass back. Easy peasy. And the fastest car wins. Clean and 'fair'. No one is fighting and no one is getting the best of anyone else. It becomes a race to the mediocre. And this is what I see happening in the 'second seat curse' discourse as well. A desire to be fair, by being mediocre. Here's the situation: Red Bull have a car. They have a mediocre car. It has a good power unit and a shitty chassis. They have two drivers who can both drive the car to or close to it's maximum speed. If they want to be faster they have to change the car. There are two ways to gather information with which to change the car - the telemetry/sensor data and the drivers. I assume both drivers have given feedback, but - and I say this without shade to Isack - Max has insane levels of car-fucking wheel knowledge. They bring upgrades in for Miami based mostly on Max's feedback. And he makes good. However at the same time Isack's time falls off. People bring back the second seat curse and whether directly or indirectly blame Max. Either he is the evil sucker of souls, demanding that the team build the car to his specifications so he can win and the teammate is fucked over or he is just so good that the team don't know how to build cars anymore because he 'hides' the faults. I call bullshit on both assumptions. For the first, no teammate other than Sergio Perez has ever even hinted at purposeful sabotage. If that was what was happening you would damn sure hear about it. To the second point, just no. Max Verstappen has never ever ever been shy about sharing how bad the cars are and what specifically is wrong with them. He knew there was something wrong with the steering system from the first lap of winter testing. He told the team and it just took time for them to find and fix the problem. Once they did, Max extracted more time out of the car. Now there were a lot of reasons why Isack had a bad weekend and the team for sure fucked up his floor, getting him disqualified. That's a separate issue. In the end Isack didn't get slower. Max got faster. The team should be chasing faster. But I get the feeling there are parts of the fandom that feel the team should be chasing 'fairness', should be instituting some form of Papaya Rules. They'll end up with two drivers fairly together - in the midfield.

All of this fairness will sanitize this sport to the point where stupid regulations don't even matter. However the greatness of Max Verstappen stands in the way, the man who jumps into any car and tames it, the man who loves his teammates, the man who wants to leave the sport better than he found it.

[efimerasthings]

Gustavo: "What really impresses me about Max is how genuine and transparent he is with us. When he gets out of the car and the guys ask, 'How's the engine?' he says the exact same thing he tells us on Discord as he does in interviews. Of course, he opens up a bit more with us; sometimes he finishes FP1 and tells us, 'Damn, this is really bad.'"

Hector:"Do you have this direct contact after every session?"

Gustavo:"Yes, we do. Right after a race ends, he’ll tell us something like, 'The rear wing didn't close again, I lost 50 pts of downforce, and this just isn't working well.' What he says in interviews matches what he tells us. Of course when it comes to contracts or things he doesn't want to disclose, he keeps that private—which makes sense, it's his personal business. But when it comes to racing, he always opens up. He gives us scoops like, 'Oh, that battle was great, I managed to dodge him!' It's amazing for us."

Gustavo: "I remember being at Interlagos in 2024. It was raining during practice, and he actually messaged me asking, 'How's it going out there? Is the outside line very wet?' I said, 'No, it looks like it's drying here.' I was just sitting in the grandstands! He always bounces these ideas off us, he frequently throws the ball to us, especially regarding the setup team, to ask for our opinions on team matters, you know? Not just F1 stuff."

[maxielonceagain]

His eyes are so sad… 😞💔

[slutforpringles]

bro 💀

[grogumaximus]

[marusinda]

I love the fact the laws of physics don't particularly apply to Verstappen.

[thissying]

christijan albers after quali with rudy van buren sitting next to him in the studio:

"[rbr] is still overweight and if they work really hard on that, then you can just gain - rudy is not allowed to say too much but i just happened to hear this from a good friend of mine - you can gain two and a half tenths, minimum."

[paddockpatrol]

Why the fuck is almost everyone framing this as Kimi "defeating" max. Like... have you not been watching this season? Max defeated 2 Mclarens, 2 ferraris, and a merc. How the fuck is that not the story after Kimi's pole position??

I swear sometimes it feels like this sport never stops disrespecting max...

[paddockpatrol]

"To champions defending its future"

He sure is, Jacky ❤️