The 2021 season saw Max Verstappen mount his first championship challenge as he took on seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. The then-Mercedes driver had just come off winning four championships on the bounce, and his Mercedes continued to look strong in 2021. However, Red Bull finally designed a car that could fight at the top consistently for the first time since 2013.
Verstappen had won ten races before the 2021 season and had a mindset that he had to win every race. This was shown in the 75th Anniversary GP in 2020, when he was told to hold back by his team, he challenged, “I’m not going to sit here like a grandma“. However, according to his trainer, he had to change his mindset to help him compete for a championship.
Max Verstappen changed his mentality in 2021, according to his trainer
From the first race of the season, it was clear that Max Verstappen would challenge Lewis Hamilton throughout the 2021 season. The Red Bull driver would claim his first title by winning 10 grand prix. However, according to his trainer, Bradley Scanes, the Dutchman had to change his mentality to help him secure the title.
Scanes to the Highest Performance Podcast, “[In] 2020, his mentality was I’m on the grid, I’m going to win this race. I want to win every single race. Every time I go out there, I want to win.
“In 2021, we had to be clever, because if going for a race win meant that we came P7 or we DNFd, we’re not going to win a world championship. We have to finish second. If Lewis is finishing first, we have to be second. That was a huge mindset shift going into a race and saying, ‘Boys, we are not going to be P1 today’.”
Max Verstappen is the 2021 #F1 World Champion!
An incredible end to an incredible season! pic.twitter.com/aOz1tvylWL
— Silverstone (@SilverstoneUK) December 12, 2021
When asked how Verstappen was able to alter his mindset, Scanes continued, “Make the desire to win the world championship. Reconceptualise it a bit and reframe it. This isn’t about winning races anymore. You’ve won races. You don’t need more race wins. But this is our chance to win a world championship. We don’t know if it’s going to come again.”
Verstappen managed to pull off the championship victory on the final race in Abu Dhabi. Following on, he secured another three titles to his name, but he will most likely lose his crown in the 2025 season to one of the McLaren drivers, as Red Bull does not have the machine to challenge the Papaya cars.
Has Max Verstappen continued with this mindset?
Following the 2021 season, Max Verstappen had to deal with the pressure to retain the crown. After fending off an early challenge from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in 2022, Verstappen dominated the season, winning 15 of the 22 races. Following two retirements in the first three races, Verstappen’s mindset helped him claw back the deficit and take the championship lead.
The 2023 season was pure domination from Verstappen and Red Bull, with Max failing to win only three races all season and not standing on the podium on just one occasion. However, the 2024 season saw Verstappen fall back into old ways.
After cruising the opening section of the season, Verstappen was being challenged by drivers from McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes. The Red Bull domination was over, and Verstappen looked desperate for points. Key instances were when Max lunged from far for P4 at Hamilton in Hungary, while pushing Lando Norris off the track twice in Mexico.
The Untold Story of How Max Verstappen Used Mind Games to Break Lewis Hamilton in 2021
With the RB21 lacking pace compared to its rivals, Verstappen has managed two race wins this season. He took his frustrations out for not challenging for wins regularly against George Russell’s Mercedes in Barcelona. Verstappen’s mindset has gone back to pre-2021, where he must win every race. Right now, with Red Bull, his next win doesn’t look close.
