Dani Juncadella: “Max Verstappen is like Leo Messi. He is a beast competing, but at the same time he is very human. He likes to be up to date with everything that happens. He will even find out the result of the elections in Spain”
“Is he as animalistic in person as he is competing? Yes, yes, he is a guy who is made differentlyI believe. In the end it is a brown beast to compete in anything, but at the same time he is a very sensible, very rational, very normal person. “Very human.” This is how Dani Juncadella described Max Verstappen. The Catalan pilot, pilot of the team Max Verstappen in GTwho knows the Dutchman very well, described the four-time world champion and talked about what surprises him most about his driving. And to describe his talent he found the best possible comparison in Messi.
“He’s very human. He’s a guy who deep down is also a bit ‘geek’, who really likes video games, he likes to stay up to date with what’s happening.”is on networks quite a bit. It’s in everything. You will surely find out the result of the elections in Spain. The guy knows, he knows about many things, he knows a lot about everything and it is something that has always surprised me about him, that at some point we have talked about some such topic and I say, “But this, how do you know this?” Juncadella expressed in Mundo Deportivo’s ‘El Gran Circo’ podcast last week.
And then, he gave an example that surprised him.
“Look, for example, with Formula 2, so you can see that he follows all the races, one day we were talking about drivers, Then the name of Mari Boya, a Spanish pilot, came up. And you know that Mari always has ‘Boya’ on the side of her car, which is her family’s supermarket company in the Vall d’Aran. And then he said to me: ‘What is this Buoy thing? Legumes and fruits?’ And I say: ‘And this guy! But how do you know what Mari Boya’s family company is?'” he highlighted with a laugh.
You know that Mari Boya (F2) always has ‘Boya’ on the side of her car, which is her family’s supermarket company in the Vall d’Aran. And then Max told me: ‘What is this about Boya? Legumes and fruits?’ And I say: ‘And this guy! But how do you know what Mari Boya’s family company is?’
“But that makes you intelligent. That shows you that he is a guy who I think is perhaps gifted, on a mental level, I think he is a guy who knows very well where he is, knows everything.
I think he is perhaps gifted, on a mental level, I think he is a guy who knows very well where he is, he knows everything.
So all of that, in personal treatment also makes you human because in the end you understand and sometimes in the press it is true that I suppose he is tired of doing interviews or talking about the same thing, then he gets tired and bored, but in reality he is a guy who in personal treatment…”
“Leo Messi is piloting”
Then, Dani Juncadella began to analyze Max Verstappen’s driving.
“Pilotting is Leo Messi. It’s the best simile,” said the Barcelona native.
“It’s no longer at the driving level, because at the driving level all the professionals, the people who are dedicated to the motor world, know how to drive and know how to make a lap. All the drivers on the Formula 1 grid know how to do a lap at the level of Max Verstappen. The issue is consistency and that it is always there, always, it is not wrong.”he commented.
“This year, in Zandvoort, Max lost the car in the race. He wrecked the car on the first lap when it was wet, with dry tires. And I remember that later, when it was over and he was fine, I told him: “Oh my God! It’s good to see you make a mistake, finally. You’re human, I’m glad, I’m glad you screwed up'”revealed.
The issue is consistency and that it is always there, always, no mistake. In Zandvoort I said to him: ‘Wow! It’s good to see you finally make a mistake. You’re human, I’m glad you screwed up.’
And he continued: “Because it’s like, thank goodness he makes a mistake, you know? Because the guy doesn’t fail… That confidence he has, that ability to get into the car that doesn’t give up at anything…”, he remarked.
And he gave an example of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, in which Dani shared a crew with Verstappen. this year. “At the Nürburgring the way it manages traffic is very impressive.. It is a circuit where sometimes there are changing conditions, it is raining in one place, in another it is dry, with cars from other categories, amateur drivers (whom to lap), and It is very easy to lose the ‘flow’, lose confidence, because you make a small mistake and… “He swims, he doesn’t shrink from anything and that’s the most impressive thing about Verstappen for me,” Dani said.
At the Nürburgring the way it manages traffic is very impressive. It is a circuit where it is easy to make mistakes. He swims, he doesn’t shrink from anything and that is the most impressive thing about Verstappen for me.
A “trick” with the GT3 that I had never seen before
In the 2026 Nürburgring 24 HoursDani Juncadella assured that Max Verstappen had found a trick with GT cars, despite his little experience with this type of vehicle, but he did not want to reveal it. MD asked him about it in this relaxed talk on the ‘El Gran Circo’ podcast.
“It’s not a trick. For me it was quite impressive how he could go so close to other cars in fast corners, where you lose a lot of downforce.“he explained.
“The Mercedes GT is a car that is aerodynamically superior, it is very good in fast corners, but when you are behind another car you lose a lot of efficiency and he (Max) does not need to explain it, but… it is the capacity he had, what he did with the inputs of the car, the brake, the gas, the steering wheel and how he positioned himself to lose the minimum. And he was hooked to the car in front and I said: ‘Hey, how is it so close? And you don’t lose anything.’ Because of course, in Formula 1 that loss of charge is even worse when you are close to another car. So, I guess it’s easier for him to manage it with a car where you don’t lose as much,” he explained.
The Mercedes GT is a car that, when you are behind another car, you lose a lot of efficiency and it (Max) is the capacity it had, what it did with the car’s inputs, the brake, the gas, the steering wheel and how it was positioned to lose the minimum. And he was hooked to the car in front and I said: ‘Hey, how is it so close? And you don’t lose anything’
Verstappen’s ability to wrinkle the rest
Red Bull took a long time to give Max Verstappen a competitive car in this first year of new regulations, but with the evolution presented in Baku, the Dutchman has raised the bar and swept the last two rounds, in Sepang and Singapore. That has many wondering if Max could have prevented Kimi Antonelli’s dominance this year if that car had arrived earlier this year.
“It’s very difficult, but look, last year they already gave up the World Cup and oh well… to which you open a window in which Max Verstappen can enter, it has you on tenterhooks until the end. And last year was brutalits season finale, and it almost escaped Norris, but this year I find it difficult and I also see Kimi Antonelli superior to Norris or Piastti in managing the championship with how young he is. I see it very well“he explained.
“That’s what I would have liked to see,” Dani said when asked what would have happened in a hypothetical fight between Kimi Antonelli and Verstappen with similar weapons from the beginning of the course. And he continued.
“Because I think that Norris against Verstapen, face to face, sinks. The other one is overly aggressive with him because his morale is a bit low, which is a bit what Verstappen always does with his rivals, where he is overly aggressive and puts them in a situation in which the others shrink. And with Antonelli, I don’t know what would happen, because the truth is that they have a very good relationship, so “I don’t know if there we would see a Verstappen a little more human and he wouldn’t do what movements he has done with others.”said.
I think that Norris against Verstapen, face to face, sinks. The other one is overly aggressive with him because his morale is a bit low, which is a bit what Verstappen always does with his rivals, where he is overly aggressive and puts them in a situation in which the others shrink. And with Antonelli, I don’t know, because the truth is that they have a very good relationship
“If you get along badly with someone, do you push them harder on the track?” Dani was asked.
“I would do it. Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. This is a phrase that I think Max knows how to apply very well and in the end there is a story in Formula 1, that in the end everyone has competed with everyone else. They have been competing for many years and you know, for infinite situations in which you have found yourself fighting, when the other is going to give in or not“he commented.
“And what happens, a very common trend, is that Verstapen often puts others in a situation of ‘You decide if we give it to us or not'”. The same thing happened at the start of the last Singapore GP, when Max Verstappen was more aggressive than Leclerc, who had to brake to avoid a possible impact in the first corner. There, Max won the race.
A very common trend is that Verstapen often puts others in a situation of ‘you decide if we give it to us or not’
“Yes, it’s true,” Dani agreed. “In the end that means that, I don’t know, when they once undermine your morale or show you that the other is slacking, then it is difficult for the other to not feel superior when it comes to fighting face to face,” he added.
Hamilton crossed the line at one point where he said, ‘Hey, you…’. How the Silvestone accident (from 2021), in which the other (Max) makes his life impossible during four corners and (Hamilton) says, ‘Look, you know, here I pass or no one passes’
“And this is what has happened to Vertappen for many years, that none… well, Hamilton sometimes. But then Hamilton crossed the line at some point in which he said: ‘Hey, you…’. Like that mythical Silvestone accident (from 2021), in which the other guy (Max) makes his life impossible for four corners and (Hamilton) says, “Look, you know, I’ll pass here or no one will pass.”
