Jackie Stewart, Albert Park, 2018

Stewart tells Verstappen to curb his enthusiasm after crashes

2018 F1 season

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Max Verstappen needs to rein in his enthusiasm following his fraught start to 2018, according to Jackie Stewart.

The three-times Formula 1 champion described Verstappen as a “wonderful talent” but added he “categorically has to” get things under control.

“Max is an extraordinarily fast driver and quite remarkable for his age,” said Stewart. “However the number of accidents that he has had must surely be extremely frustrating, to him as much as the team.

“From my own experience, I was terribly conscious back in those days not to have an accident because the penalty was of course much more life-threatening.”

“He has surely got all the skills but he categorically has got to put more effort into controlling his enthusiasm,” Stewart added. “My theory was ‘to finish first, first you must finish’.”

In Montreal on Thursday, Verstappen strongly rejected claims he needs to tone down his aggressive style. Daniel Ricciardo offered some understanding for his team mate’s situation, saying he can expect to be scrutinised more closely from now on because of his recent troubles.

“Now he’s in the spotlight – obviously the FP3 crash wasn’t a small error – but any small error from now on he’s probably going to get a little bit picked apart for,” said Ricciardo.

“There will be times when it’s probably going to be frustrating but at the end of the day I guess it’s in his control. I think he’s pretty headstrong, he won’t let it get to him too much. I understand where it’s coming from.”

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2018 F1 season

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27 comments on “Stewart tells Verstappen to curb his enthusiasm after crashes”

  1. Vettel fan 17 (@)
    8th June 2018, 8:39

    Couldn’t agree more with Steward. As I said on another article, a bit of patience would do him no harm

  2. GtisBetter (@)
    8th June 2018, 8:54

    How many articles do we need on this? Are we going to publish the same opinion of people over and over again? We had a very lively discussion about it already, i don’t see the point in creating the same article with a different guy saying it. Didn’t he had anything else to say?

    1. This is exactly what Max meant in the press conference (along with a slightly cringeworthy headbutt remark imitating Daniel).

      He just needs a few clean races with good results, and all the pitchforks and torches will disappear. Only to immediately reappear after the next incident of course, be it one or 20 races later ;)

    2. @passingisoverrated:

      How many articles do we need on this?

      Just enough to keep the clicks and comments clicking. It’s the internet, if it hasn’t been said a few thousand ways, no one has heard. ;-)

    3. Pffff, indeed. Another article on exactly the same topic. Come on Racefans, there is a new weekend around the corner. Let’s look ahead again and enjoy our great sport including unique real personalities like Verstappen. Stewart is fully right ofcourse, but we know this story now. So all drivers starting again at zero, entire new weekend ahead, really looping forward to it!

  3. I think since F1Fanatic became RaceFans it’s more and more about generating clicks. My preferred F1 website is starting to look more and more like Zak Brown’s Motorsport network. Same headlines, same clickbait.

    1. Meh @osella-alfaromeo. I get what you are saying but really does that fit this article? The headline perfectly summarizes what Steward did say (as quoted in the article).

      You might argue (as some above do) wheather we “needed” this article. But then again, it is a multiple world champion giving his opinion on the matter. I have heard/read far less well balanced opinions on Max and far less balanced opinions from Steward (often about Lewis Hamilton in the past), but this one makes perfect sense IMO.

      1. Sure it’s what Stewart said. He just didn’t say it to Max. He put it out there, and it’s the same thing everyone has put out there. No wonder Max doesn’t hear it anymore. He’s already heard it from his own team and they’re who really matter.

    2. Totally agree! This website is going down hill fast.

    3. Agreed as well. We are bombarded with articles that could have been summarized by one sentence in the round-up. There are articles highlighting obvious statements mentioned by Formula One people in an interview to RaceFans. The fact that the news may be “exclusive” does not make it any more important. I am very unhappy with the change. And looking at the rapid decline in number of comments in each article, seems to me I am not the only one.

  4. I was under the assumption SJS had a conversation with Max. I guess he didn’t actually tell Max anything. Certainly nothing a million people haven’t already ‘told him.’ I don’t know what more people expect Max to say. Are they looking for him to grovel at their feet? Keep explaining every incident over and over? Swear on a stack of bibles he’ll change? If people didn’t already know, they certainly know now, he’s going to proceed looking forward to the next race, and the next race after that, and his approach will be what it will be depending on the thousand variables that can and will come up with each event that will shape what will be.

  5. Expect a head-butt JYS…

  6. Go away ‘rent a quote’ Stewart no one cares what you have to say.

    Another rubbish article with no valuable content.

  7. Tony Mansell
    8th June 2018, 13:02

    I was thinking the other night whilst watching the mind bogglingly brilliant Isle of Man TT, I wonder what it would’ve been like now if Jackie Stewart had been a TT bike racer instead of an f1 driver…..

    And then I thought, well it wouldn’t exist anymore.

  8. Tommy Scragend
    8th June 2018, 13:37

    Holier-than-thou Stewart pipes up again.

    “I was terribly conscious back in those days not to have an accident because the penalty was of course much more life-threatening.”

    Really? Because you’ve never mentioned it before…

    1. Just because it has been mentioned before doesn’t mean it isn’t a fair comment…

      1. Tommy Scragend
        8th June 2018, 16:54

        True, but when virtually every time Stewart opens his mouth he bangs on about how dangerous it was back in his day it gets a bit tiresome.

      2. I’m not sure but he might mean it in a sarcastic way, as in that stewart said it many times before.

  9. Pjotr (@pietkoster)
    8th June 2018, 14:45

    Is this racing we’re talking about? I have a slotcar track at home, I can put a 1,5 hour video on the internet. We all want action and sensation on the track. Give Steward a ticket for Isle Man races maybe he wakes up.

  10. Well, we all remember his discussion with Senna back in the day… Senna replied with his now famous “if you no longer go for a gap, you are no longer a racing driver” bit. Max will just headbutt him!

    1. Tommy Scragend
      8th June 2018, 16:52

      My favourite bit of that interview was when Senna was asked a question and he started his response something along the lines of “I’m surprised that you of all people are asking that question, Stewart”.

      I don’t know if it was a language/cultural thing or whether Senna addressed him as “Stewart” deliberately to show his contempt for the interviewer.

    2. @fer-no65

      I remember Senna refering to him has “Stuart Jack” and Max Mosely ripping into his dress sense.

  11. To be honest his father suffered the same affliction. I remember a Canada race where Jos Verstappen was doing rather well. Yet instead of simply finishing the race he started posting fastest laps and was flying around the track. Until his brakes failed and he scored a DNF. Too often he ended up with a broken car or in the gravel traps just because he couldn’t stop taking too much risks.

    Of course after that Canada race, the brakes got blamed and he maintained that you should always keep pushing. Yet it should be painfully clear that pushing the machinery too hard for no good reason or taking too much risks is simply a poor mindset to constantly be in.

  12. Sir Jackie Stewart, the Scottish Larry David?

  13. After Max’s comment that if kept getting questions about crashing that he “would head butt” someone, pitpass.com named him ‘Butt-Head’ Verstappen. He may not live that one down for a long time or at least until he starts behaving like a grown up, on and off the track.

    1. yeah let’s ban drivers until they’re 25 when we know for sure the frontal lobes have developed, unless they sign up to being a PR drone.

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