Max Verstappen: widely divergent opinions and views for Ferrari and Mercedes

The long streak of victories by Max Verstappen is the subject of analysis and various evaluations. Is it his merit or the car he has at his disposal? No one will resolve the doubt about what is more predominant in a balance whose contribution percentages cannot be defined with scientific precision. Because there is no mathematical formula that can solve the puzzle.

It’s a fact – and this is history – that the Dutchman is the only driver to have won ten in a row, just as the Red Bull RB19 is the only car to have won 14 out of as many races. These remarkable achievements have not gone down well with everyone.

“Our situation was perhaps a bit different because we had two guys fighting against each other within the team. Those numbers are for Wikipedia; no one reads them. For me, this kind of achievement is completely irrelevant. It was even so in our good days at Mercedes. I don’t know how many races we won in total or in a row. I didn’t even know there was a count of consecutive wins. So asking me for a comment on this result is difficult because it has never played a role in my life,” said Toto Wolff.

Verstappen Incompatible with the Mercedes Model
These are the words; you can understand the character who uttered them. Too simple, isn’t it? Toto Wolff is not entirely wrong when he talks about the ten consecutive victories of the grinder from Hasselt: at Brackley, the freedom to fight has always been total until there were ranking requirements. But from there to relegate a sequence of triumphs of such magnitude to an irrelevant detail, there is quite a distance. Perhaps, just a little bit, the glories of Milton Keynes’ rivals have left a bad taste in Mr. Toto’s mouth.

Toto Wolff, who then slightly corrected his stance in the final part of his statement (“The result shows that a great driver in a great car is competing at an extremely high level”), seems not to be on the same page as Frédéric Vasseur, with whom he shares more important matters, such as the strategic vision regarding the power unit rules that will be introduced in 2026.

“I expected that by putting Max under pressure or in the fight, he could make some mistakes, but that was not the case in the Italian Grand Prix weekend. What impresses me is that they always have mega pace, from Monza to Monaco. They can cover all aspects of the track, wherever they perform. But the most impressive thing for me is that Max – not only in the last ten GPs but in the last two years – has not made a single mistake in the race. Certainly, it is easier not to make mistakes when you have a margin over others. But even in circumstances like Monza, he managed the situation very well. He put pressure on Carlos without ever taking risks,” said Vasseur.

Verstappen: Fred Vasseur’s Praises
This is the testimony of esteem from the French executive who does not play down the historical significance of Milton Keynes’ men’s feat. Perhaps because he does not need to protect records that he has not yet been able to set in his long career in motorsport, something Wolff can still boast, even as the walls of the fortress no longer seem as solid under Max Verstappen and Adrian Newey’s relentless pickaxe blows.

In this overwhelming (?) duel of visions, we find Helmut Marko‘s position, who, as sly as ever, doesn’t mince words. “Wikipedia – explained the mega Red Bull consultant to Servus TV Austria – is one of the most-read means of communication; maybe someone should tell Wolff. This tenth consecutive victory means a lot to Max. With every record, there comes extra motivation, and this also makes the team stronger.”

The kind words, which Toto Wolff went looking for this time, continue with another barb: “Some fans don’t like the one who’s winning, but I can’t help it. The difference between us and them [Mercedes] is that we look at our team to achieve the best performance and simply do our job without inventing stories like they do.”

One could provocatively say that Red Bull and Max Verstappen are so strong that they manage to split even the front of their rivals. Of course, these are marginal issues; there are much bigger battlegrounds where actions need to converge to counter the Austrian giant. And from this point of view, Ferrari and Mercedes are more united than ever, considering how they are behaving regarding the F1 Commission’s motor regulations. Who knows what Dr. Marko thinks about this topic.