The word maturity springs to mind after an astonishing Spanish Grand Prix which saw Max Verstappen become the sport’s youngest ever winner and an extraordinary first-lap collision between Lewis Hamilton and his team-mate Nico Rosberg which ended the race for Mercedes.
Verstappen’s performance in his first race for Red Bull, after replacing Daniil Kvyat, was truly remarkable and provided a much needed breath of fresh air for a sport that has become predictable.
A drive which displayed a maturity well beyond his 18-years simply proved what Red Bull have known for a while, that this kid is a genuine talent with superstar potential.
The way he held off Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, who is twice his age, lap after lap when many youngsters would have cracked under the pressure, was fantastic and reminded me of Lewis Hamilton when he exploded onto the F1 scene in 2007.
Like Max, Lewis was clearly overflowing with precocious talent, coming second in the title race during his first season. He followed that up by becoming the youngest world champion a year later in 2008.
Eight years on he has three world titles, one with McLaren and two with Mercedes and, you would hope, the maturity that generally comes from a triple world champion.
After Lewis won his first title at McLaren he changed. Suddenly he appeared to lose his humility, something I have spoken about before. Problems always seem to be someone else’s fault and he drifted into the world of celebrity and bling to the extent that it clearly started to interfere with what he does best – race F1 cars.
His on-off relationship with pop singer Nicole Scherzinger and other problems in his personal life coincided with a loss of focus and some reckless moves on the F1 track. Thankfully, either someone had a quiet word or he got his act together himself, realising that he was going down the wrong road if, like his hero Ayrton Senna, he was to achieve Formula One greatness.
A move from McLaren to Mercedes saw a return to the Hamilton the sport had grown to love and admire in his early years. The humility was back and so was his form, going on to win two further world titles in dominant fashion and with the potential to win more.
But this season, which has so far been a disaster for him, there has been a worrying return to his love of a celebrity lifestyle, jetting around the world in between races. He visited New York, Athens, Miami and Barbados in the aftermath of the Russian Grand Prix, leading to fears that in the face of adversity he was shrugging his shoulders and looking elsewhere for his kicks.
He is entitled to a private life and he has, of course, denied that he is falling out of love with the sport but he is clearly frustrated with seeing his team-mate Nico Rosberg get off to a flying start to the season while he has struggled.
Mercedes were even forced to deny they were deliberately sabotaging the world champion’s season, preferring to see a German champion. All this leads to what happened on Sunday.
Hamilton took pole position for the race and appeared to be in confident mood but Rosberg had a better start and quickly took the lead. Hamilton, determined to get it back made a move going into the third bend, but Rosberg, as he is entitled to do, moved over, forcing him onto the grass where his car spun out of control and took the German’s car out in the process. Game over.
Stewards decided it was a racing incident but Niki Lauda immediately blamed Hamilton saying he was too aggressive. Hamilton, like all the great racing drivers, has the killer instinct and closing in on a slower Rosberg, who apparently had his car on the wrong power setting, he sensed an opportunity and went for it.
I think Hamilton is a better driver than Rosberg and should have shown more maturity, bided his time and made a more calculated move later in the race.
Yes, he must be exasperated by all the problems this season but it’s no excuse for taking unnecessary risks, because if it backfires as it did on Sunday there will be those who will believe the Hamilton era is coming to an end and that Verstappen’s is about to begin.
It’s down to him to prove that is not the case just yet.
