Max Verstappen hardly faltered during the 2023 F1 season. So great was Red Bull’s margin of superiority over their competitors that he could afford to exercise caution. Verstappen cruised to a record-breaking 19 victories from 22 races last season. But this year, rival teams, most notably McLaren, have closed up. This has forced the Dutchman to push harder, and he’s made some uncharacteristic blunders. In Miami, he sustained minor underbody damage when he went off-track as eventual winner Lando Norris put him under pressure on an alternate strategy. A couple of races later, he lightly hit the …
