“The Novak Djokovic of F1,” Fans laud Max Verstappen after delivering under pressure in Montreal
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Max Verstappen's victory in Montreal has drawn comparisons to Tennis star Novak Djokovic.
Max Verstappen had a fantastic weekend in Montreal. The Dutchman successfully held off pressure from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to take his sixth victory of the season. Carlos Sainz was in DRS range of Verstappen for what must have felt like an eternity, but even that coupled with fresher tires did not enable him to overtake Max Verstappen.
Verstappen had a calm, very mature drive. He kept his cool in a high-pressure situation, with the victory on the line, and it looked as if he did not as much as break a sweat. While it would have undeniably been a tough situation, Verstappen looked in control all the way through and deserved the victory.
Tennis star Novak Djokovic, who has the second-most Grand Slam victories (a record he shares with Roger Federer) is known for being a master under pressure. One of many examples is when last year, in the French Open Final, the Serb came back from 0-2 to win 3-2 against Stefanos Tsitsipas. Verstappen’s cool drive under pressure prompted Djokovic comparisons.
Max Verstappen surpasses Niki Lauda & Jim Clark’s victory records
With his triumph in Canada (his first time on the podium there), Max Verstappen has now surpassed all-time greats Jim Clark and Niki Lauda in the victory charts. Verstappen is still only 24, with a long career ahead of him, and no one will be surprised if he can make up even more places in the all-time charts. The next driver above him on the chart is Jackie Stewart, with 27 victories.
As for the championship, Verstappen has extended his gap at the top to 46 points, with the next closest driver being his teammate, Sergio Perez. Perez had an unfortunate outing in Montreal and retired early on due to what Christian Horner thought was a transmission issue. In his podium interview, Verstappen said that Ferrari had been strong, and he had to give everything during the race.
“The safety car didn’t help. Overall, they [Ferrari] were very quick in the race, so it would have been really tough for me to close that gap at the end even on fresher tires. But it was really exciting at the end – I was giving it everything I had and, of course, Carlos was doing the same.”
“I could see he was pushing and charging, but when you’re on the DRS it’s a lot easier to charge. The last few laps were a lot of fun. Luckily, this year, we seem really quick on the straights so that helps a lot.”
The next race is in Silverstone, which would not bring happy memories to Max Verstappen. Last year, he had a high-speed collision at Copse when Lewis Hamilton tried to overtake the Dutchman from the inside. This led to a 51G crash for Verstappen and a 10-second time penalty for Hamilton. Verstappen has unfinished business in Silverstone and will look for the victory.
Also Read: Canadian Police Dogs search Red Bull’s garage after Max Verstappen’s victory in Montreal
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