🇮🇹 Formula 1 2021: R2 - Max Verstappen and the Italian curse

Photo by Glen Wheeler on Unsplash

Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen is one of the most exciting drivers in Formula 1. The son of mid-card driver Jos Verstappen, who was more famous for being in the car during a super dangerous and spectacular fire, Verstappen Jr. has been groomed to challenge for the Formula 1 title from a young age.

And this year, he might be in the quickest car on the grid. 2021 should be the perfect storm for the 23-year-old to break Lewis Hamilton’s dominance.

But there is one place Verstappen has been unable to crack. Across three different venues in Italy, he has not finished on the podium at Imola, Monza or Mugello.

Until 2021, Italy was fairly miserable for Max.

2020 was particularly miserable for him, with three non-finishes. At Monza, his power unit let him down. At Mugello, he was part of a multi-car collision that ended his race before it had really started. At Imola, he was second when his tyre blew out and left him stranded.

A few months later, at the same circuit, he’s qualified in third — as he did in 2020, but this time, his teammate is ahead of him, with Sergio Perez outqualifying him for the first time. Had it not been for track limits, Lando Norris’ McLaren would have been ahead of him on the second row.

In fact, even qualifying in Italy hasn’t been fun for Max. The graph below tracks his F1 record against his team-mate at the time, and in some ways, it shows how good Verstappen was against Albon. In a country where Max can’t get on the podium, the only time he was outqualified in four attempts (2019) was when he didn’t set a time anyway.

In 2021, he broke the curse. A chaotic race saw a red flag halfway through after a particularly strong shunt between current Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas and probable future Mercedes driver George Russell, but through the mayhem, which saw his teammate slide off during the restart, Verstappen kept his head for his 11th career victory in F1.

Even before the incident, the Dutch driver controlled the pace, passing both his teammate and Hamilton on the first lap to get a lead he never gave up, driving a somewhat lonely race ahead of everyone else.

Red Bull have got a super-exciting car, and even with Perez unable to contribute, Verstappen continues to confidently lead the field.

The championship moves to a double-header in Portugal and Spain, starting with the Portimão rollercoaster. There’s just one point separating Hamilton and Verstappen, with both drivers on one win each.

It’s going to be a fascinating season.

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