Danny Stam thinks that Max will ‘win the race anyway’. “You can just see that it is all just a bit too much for Norris. He’s going to make a mistake and fall out of the top 10. The real tension will come from the fight with Oscar Piastri,” he predicts.
“But as always, Max comes out on top. It will be a race that feels like déjà vu from his first world championship and exactly the kind of spectacle that we as fans can only enjoy.”
“Max just drove a world-class season with this car,” says Luuk Derks. “That car was really bad in the beginning. If it was then as it is now, he would have been champion for a long time. If he doesn’t become champion on Sunday… so be it. He is a hero as well.”
‘Rise above yourself, Max’
More fans are expressing themselves about the Dutch driver on social media. Roswitha van de Velde is full of praise for his performance on Saturday. “Anything is possible. Rise above yourself, Max. You are the only one who masterfully manages to guide your Red Bull car to such heights in such a way.”
She continues: “All through your extraordinary craftsmanship, your ability to ‘read’ the other drivers.” She is looking forward to the denouement, which could well be blood-curdling. “Get them!”
There is also doubt. Dave Bektic fears for Verstappen that Norris will come out on top on Sunday. “If he stays in second or third place, he is simply world champion,” he analyzes soberly. “Norris doesn’t even have to race against Max or Piastri.” He thinks it’s ‘well done’.
Bianca Timmerman also thinks the same way. “That pole position for Max Verstappen is nice and deserved. Still, I wonder whether this is useful, because Norris only has to follow on Sunday…”
The appreciation that Verstappen has managed to come back from a hopeless position, and that it now remains exciting until the last moment, is enormous. For many, this is already a reason to praise him, whatever happens in the emirate on Sunday.
“This was really a perfect race,” says Scott Sager with admiration. “This is what he had to do. Whatever happens on Sunday, Max is a living legend.” To encourage him some more. “Come on Max, come on Red Bull, take world title number five.”