Max Verstappen can look back with satisfaction on the São Paulo Grand Prix. The Dutch star secured the sixty-second victory of his career on a rainy Interlagos. During a brilliant overtaking race, all others paled in comparison to the unleashed Red Bull driver. The triumph was reminiscent of a previous display of power by Verstappen in São Paulo, as former champion Jenson Button also recalls.
At the beginning of Max Verstappen’s illustrious career, he already showed spectacular things on the Brazilian asphalt. During the 2016 Grand Prix, everyone had to suffer when the rain poured down from the sky. Everyone, except a 19-year-old Dutchman, who made up no less than thirteen places in the last sixteen rounds. Jenson Button remembers how Verstappen effortlessly passed him.
‘As if I was standing still’
In a recent episode of Sky Sports, Jenson Button admitted that Verstappen overtook him ‘as if he was standing still’. “I remember the last time Max Verstappen surprised us all with his skills in the rain,” said the former champion. “That was, of course, Brazil 2016, also my last Grand Prix in São Paulo.” Button explained how he usually knew how to handle a bit of rain, but was still overtaken by the much younger Verstappen.
‘I always loved rain races, but he (Max Verstappen) passed me as if I was standing still,’ said the Brit. ‘Then I realized it was over – it was time for me to leave.’ That same year, Button indeed announced his retirement. The 2009 world champion would come into action one more time during the 2017 Monaco GP, but has not raced in Formula 1 since then.
Max Verstappen and Jenson Button during the latter’s last race weekend in Monaco.
