Now Verstappen is no longer the ‘bad guy’: “People are starting to understand who I really am”

The ‘bad guy’ par excellence During his career Max Verstappen has already won a lot. However, the Dutchman has almost never been an absolute favorite with the public. At the beginning of his career in the Circus his very aggressive driving style, the tendency to be involved in controversial incidents and a never hidden verbal and physical aggressiveness – which led him to several heated confrontations even off the track, in particular with Ferrari and its drivers – made him the ‘bad boy’ of the grid. In 2021, the season of the incredible world championship duel between him and Lewis Hamilton, the Red Bull standard bearer has probably gained some fans among those who hoped that the Englishman’s streak of successes would come to an end, but the endless controversies of that championship have polarized the fans, making Verstappen highly disliked by at least half of the fans. Subsequently, the 2022 and especially 2023 seasons, in which the champion from Hasselt dominated the scene leaving only crumbs to his opponents, further increased the support against Verstappen, seen by many as a boring master of the Circus. A new perception The second half of the 2024 championship and then especially the 2025 season, however, have completely transformed the public’s perception of Verstappen. The performances shown by the now former #1 with a car clearly inferior to the McLaren have bewitched the fans: on many tracks, starting from Monza, the boos towards the Dutchman have given way to chants, ovations and applause. The now famous ‘Du du du du Max Verstappen’ was also sung on unsuspected tracks like Interlagos, where until a couple of years ago the Red Bull bearer was identified only as the number 1 enemy of the much-loved Lewis Hamilton. This change was also perceived by Verstappen himself, who spoke about it in an interview given to the official podcast of the Red Bull team, Talking Bulls, appearing pleasantly surprised by this new trend: “A lot of cheering for me? It was surprising – acknowledged the four-time F1 world champion – naturally, when you are the underdog, people start to cheer for you a little more. But I think that perhaps everyone is finally starting to understand who they are, who they really are”. Don’t be fake One aspect that certainly contributed to Verstappen’s popularity was his decision to broaden his horizons beyond F1, attempting several races on the legendary Nordschleife track of the Nurburgring. Furthermore, Max’s frank character, which had created some problems for him in the past, is now perceived as an advantage: “I don’t try to be a false person in the paddock or elsewhere – added Verstappen – it’s not in my character. In F1 when you are very successful or in any case doing well it is perhaps easy to forget about it. This is why it is very important to always have the most important people around you who tell you if you are behaving a little strangely or out of the ordinary and I am very lucky to have a fantastic family but also excellent friends.”