Ralf Schumacher claims Mercedes would’ve won the Canadian GP if they had Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen's performance would've allowed the out-of-form Mercedes to score a race win at the Canadian GP.

Ralf Schumacher claims Mercedes would’ve won the Canadian GP if they had Max Verstappen

Ralf Schumacher and Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)

Mercedes’ start to the 2024 season was as expected due to their struggles in the ground-effect era. However, the Canadian GP was a refreshment as George Russell scored the pole position with Lewis Hamilton almost scoring a podium. Regardless, Russell committed multiple mistakes that inadvertently cost him the race win. Upon this, Ralf Schumacher reckoned that Brackley would’ve had better chances with Max Verstappen.

Max Verstappen‘s pace has been uneven due to Red Bull’s struggling pace. Regardless, the Dutchman brought home the victory after driving exceptionally well around the circuit in addition to Red Bull’s great strategy. But for Mercedes, Ralf Schumacher highlighted that Mercedes could’ve won the race if Verstappen was driving the Mercedes chassis. Additionally, the German claimed that the 26-year-old made a big difference in terms of performance.

Mercedes would have won the race in Canada with Max Verstappen - that's a clear case. Max is the driver who makes the big difference.
Ralf Schumacher said, as reported by formulapassion.it.

Apart from this, the 48-year-old added that Mercedes’ long dry spell could only be fixed by a world champion joining the team. Hence, Verstappen’s attitude of being conservative, pleasant, and sporty nature would help him be comfortable at Mercedes. Hence, Toto Wolff and the German carmaker would do a lot for the Dutchman in F1 to help him score great results for the team.

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Mercedes has had a long dry spell and urgently needs a world champion to get back to the front.  Verstappen is also a guy who comes across as very conservative, pleasant and sporty. Accordingly, I could imagine that Toto Wolff and Mercedes would do a lot with him and would do a lot for him.
Ralf Schumacher added.

Charles Leclerc labeled Max Verstappen’s driving style as ‘agressive’

Max Verstappen has been infamous due to his unique elbows-out driving style compared to other drivers on the grid. Multiple other drivers are often spotted applauding Verstappen on his driving style. Even Charles Leclerc had a few words to describe the Dutchman’s prolific driving in the pinnacle of motorsport

Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen (IMAGO / HochZwei)
Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen (IMAGO / HochZwei)

Leclerc labeled Verstappen’s driving style as ‘agressive’ as he capitalized on the space available to overtake from. Although the Monegasque claimed that he was fast in driving, he fell back in performance due to his intuition. Hence, this was all the difference between the two highly capable drivers present on the F1 grid.

Aggressive. He’s more like: ‘if there’s space I’ll just go there’. I’m fast too. And intuitive: in certain moments I drive a lot with intuition, especially in qualifying, it’s something that characterises me.
Charles Leclerc said, as reported by planetf1.com.

Max Verstappen has continued to maintain a great lead over the rivals despite the struggling pace from the team. Hence, the Dutchman will likely maintain the lead on the others and attempt to win the world championship. Red Bull has also minimzed on strategy error for the 26-year-old to ensure a smooth sailing performance.

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