Max Verstappen’s F1 rivals told how to force him into ‘small mistakes’ in Oscar Piastri comparison

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For the first time since the 2020 Formula 1 season, Max Verstappen will not be competing for the drivers’ championship following the conclusion of the summer break.

Verstappen has been fighting against the subpar performance of the RB21 throughout the current campaign, snatching a win here and there but lacking a consistent car that is worthy of multiple Grand Prix victories in a row.

As well as the less-than-ideal machinery, strategy has also been an issue for the Dutchman. Verstappen was furious with the strategy Red Bull gave him at the Spanish Grand Prix earlier in the season.

Red Bull opted to put him on the hard compound tyres during a safety car period in the latter stages of the race, as opposed to the soft tyre compound that his rivals bolted on.

The strategy ultimately cost Verstappen a swathe of points, and angered the four-time world champion to the point that he hit out at George Russell during the dying laps of the race.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

James Hinchcliffe notes that Max Verstappen only makes mistakes when he gets ‘revved up’ in the car

Speaking on an episode of the Red Flags Podcast, former IndyCar and current IMSA SportsCar Championship driver James Hinchcliffe touched upon the different mentalities that F1 drivers have, highlighting the fact that there isn’t one specific mould that makes them great.

“I think that people are different,” Hincliffe told the co-hosts. “I think everybody’s different, and I think everybody has to when you’re trying to operate at that 99.9% at all times in your profession, you have to be very self-aware and you have to understand how to get the best out of yourself.

“There is this belief that you have to be a little more like an Oscar Piastri or a Max Verstappen, where you’re kind of cold, calculated, and kind of unemotional.”

Hinchcliffe debunks his previous statement by stating how drivers can get the best of Verstappen by making him uncomfortable in the car, continuing, “We hear Max get revved up in the race car, and then you sometimes see it in his driving.

“Frankly, when you hear Max get revved up, you see the small mistakes that he occasionally makes.

“Oscar lives here, right? Like I’m sure he’s a great guy out of the car, but he’s been absolutely dynamite at keeping himself just so centred in the car. And that’s what works for Oscar.”

READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend

Oscar Piastri’s composure is one of the reasons many believe he will be the 2025 F1 champion

Boasting a nine-point advantage over McLaren teammate Lando Norris at the summer break, many believe that Piastri will reign victorious in Abu Dhabi due to the inconsistencies that the British driver has shown throughout his F1 career.

Mistakes in the 2024 F1 season cost Norris dearly, as he went toe-to-toe with Verstappen in hopes of spoiling the Dutchman’s attempt at winning a fourth consecutive world title.

Guenther Steiner highlighted further mistakes from Norris in 2025 that could cost him a world championship for the second year running.

On the other hand, Piastri has developed a reputation for his sheer consistency. The Australian has rarely put a foot wrong throughout this season, which has seen the emergence of McLaren having the dominant car on the grid.

The title looks guaranteed to be heading to Woking at the end of the season, but the driver it will be going home with is yet to be decided. The final ten races of the season, after the summer break, will see the anticipation be turned up a notch as both drivers hunt their first F1 world title.