Max Verstappen praised for ‘risk it for the biscuit’ attitude in F1 title race

Verstappen claimed the world title in the last race of the season

Ex-Formula 1 driver David Coulthard says one of the most impressive things about the 2021 season was Max Verstappen’s “risk it for a biscuit” tactics.

The Dutchman won his first world championship after beating Lewis Hamilton in the final race of the campaign. Coulthard was enthralled in the title race especially thanks to Verstappen’s risk-taking.

“The way he [Verstappen] drives, the thing that I find most impressive…[if] there’s a gap, he goes for it, it’s not even a doubt,” he told Channel 4. “I used to weigh up ‘should I risk it now, should I not risk it’, he just goes ‘I can see the biscuit’ he risks it for the biscuit, he just goes, it really is quite special.

“And when you actually see how Lewis is defending against that, Lewis is an exceptional racing driver, but he’s had to open the door on more than one occasion because he’s come up against, if he’s fire, he’s come up against fire, and how do you fight fire?”

Verstappen won the title in controversial circumstances as race director Michael Masi allowed some cars to unlap and others not. This meant Verstappen could overtake Hamilton on the final lap to take the crown.

While the conclusion of the season is still being discussed, Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes it will be forgotten about in future.

“People in this business have such very short memories,’ said Horner, via GPFans. ‘We’ve even forgotten what happened [earlier in the year]. It was such a long racing season.

“Max is absolutely a deserving world champion. When you look at the championship as a whole, of course, the events in Abu Dhabi drew an awful lot of comment but that happens in sport.

“We had a lot of bad luck last year, we got fortunate with a safety car, we made the right strategic calls, great strategy, great teamwork and great execution by Max, and we won the race.”