Verstappen 'no bullshit' attitude praised by former F2 driver

Former Formula 2 driver Clement Novalak has praised Max Verstappen for being a "no bullshit driver". 

Novalak previously competed in F2 but now races in the European Le Mans Series and in IMSA in the LMP2 category. 

The French-Swiss driver met Verstappen in 2022, when the Dutchman had only won a single F1 title. Now, the Red Bull driver is a three-time world champion and looking set to secure a fourth title.

Recounting his first interaction with the 26-year-old, Novalak revealed how impressed he was by Verstappen's personality and an immediate piece of feedback the F1 driver delivered.

“I personally love Max, in the sense like he’s a no bullshit driver, yeah, he comes to the track, gets in the car, drives, and fucks off,” Novalak told the Track Limits podcast.

“A lot of people don’t like that because they don’t get to know the guy properly.

“But he’s one of the very few guys who, when I first got introduced to him through a friend, Max turned around to me and goes ‘If you hadn’t f**ked up Sector 2 in qualifying, you could have done a much better job, mate. You could have been top five!”

Verstappen has not changed

Verstappen's blunt assessment of Novalak's driving resulted in a comical response from the former F2 driver, who went onto have an enjoyable conversation with the F1 championship leader. 

As pointed out by Novalak, Verstappen has not changed since becoming an F1 driver and is just as big a fan of motorsport in general, and is happy to give up time to discuss racing.

Novalak continued: “I was like, ‘You know who the f**k I am?!’

“Then we had a good half-hour chat about racing as a whole and, for a double world champion, or a world champion at the time, for him to give you that time – not a lot of drivers do that.

“In F1, obviously they’re very busy and focused, they don’t get much time, and there’s probably two or three drivers like that, who don’t change.

“If you want to talk about a driver who is a real fan of motorsport, it’s Verstappen.”