Max Verschtappel Needs a New Nickname

The Blue Max is a medal for 25 enemy kills. A kind of Iron Cross of the air. The movie’s protagonist is Bruno Schtapel, a ruthlessly ambitious fighter pilot with a chip on his shoulder. He will stop at nothing to win the coveted Blue Max and competes head to head with Germany’s top fighter ace for the acclaim he knows he deserves. He’s good looking, a great pilot, and a total bastard. The movie is spectacular in appearance, featuring a young George Peppard, Ursula Andress, film legend James Mason, and great aerial cinematography.

The following B&W promo clip was put together for a television broadcast of The Blue Max some years after its theatrical release. It’s a good summary of the arc of the movie.

The promo is a good indicator of Schtapel’s character, although it leaves out the climactic scene in which he bullies a spent Allied pilot past the German lines, seemingly to take him prisoner, but in reality setting him up for a fatal shootdown over the German airfield. Making a point, you see. Schtapel wasn’t getting credit for unconfirmed kills. This was an indisputably confirmed kill, the 25th victory he needed for his Blue Max.

When Max Verstappen was a teenager, his many crashes were put down to youthful recklessness, and he acquired the (mostly) affectionate nickname Mad Max. But he’s a much more experienced and accomplished driver now, and he is still involved in frequent contact and crash incidents, usually with rivals he’s slow to respect personally and professionally. He likes forcing other drivers off the track. His early bumper-car style was not youthful exuberance; it was just Max in his usual “take no prisoners” mode of operation. Just as Schtapel is determined to best the Red Baron by any means necessary, Max is willing to destroy Hamilton to beat him.

This is nothing new. Max has repeatedly wrecked Lewis 

and rarely been penalized for it. The FIA favors him. A lot.

(And, yes, you CAN watch it on YouTube.)

But Max Verstappen won’t equal Hamilton in career achievements. He’ll win some championships. But he won’t have longevity or maturity to substitute cooler judgment and more driving finesse for coldly bullying anyone who gets in his way. That will burn you out early in any field, and maybe more so in Formula 1. 

Yesterday, Verstappen’s dirty maneuver didn’t save the day for him. Hamilton regrouped and passed him untouched a few laps later to set a new F1 record as the first driver ever to win a Grand Prix starting as far back as 10th on the grid.  Max started in the 2 spot, bullied past the pole sitter on the first lap, and lost the race in the end by more than 6 seconds before a crowd that went wild for Hamilton and his record breaking 101st F1 victory. The Teutonophiles of the FIA may not like it, but Hamilton still has a shot at a record 8th Championship, this year or next. Then Blue Max will have years and years to sulk and smirk and fume about milestones he can never reach or surpass.

The Blue Max