Max Verstappen summed it up well in the paddock at Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday afternoon when he said of his increasingly acrimonious tussles with Kimi Raikkonen as “good television”.
Despite the early collisions, crashes and spins, the Belgian Grand Prix was the usual story at the front with a Mercedes-GP car, in this case Nico Rosberg, cantering away over the horizon as the German marque made it 12 wins from 13 races this season.
• More: Rosberg wins in Belgium | Buy Grand Prix tickets
The main talking point, however, was the Verstappen v Raikkonen duel; it was great entertainment, adding to the best and worst of the Dutch teenager’s traits over the course of the race weekend.
We saw the best of Verstappen on Saturday when the Red Bull Racing driver recovered from missing out on running in the final practice session with a gearbox problem to qualify in second, his highest starting position in his short Formula One career.
However, it all went wrong in the race, though that is not to say it was all his fault.
A poor getaway was the where the young Dutchman’s problems began, and he lost part of his front wing in trying to dive down the inside of both Ferraris at the Turn 1 hairpin.
Verstappen, 18, was entitled to go for the move, and if anyone was really at fault it was probably Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari, who did not appear to give enough room on the outside as he squeezed teammate Raikkonen, who in turn leaned into Verstappen, leading to the contact.
Once back on track after getting his front wing fixed in the pits, Verstappen would not be a contender as his car had been slowed by the damage at the start, but that did not stop him twice clashing with Raikkonen again.
After forcing Raikkonen to run wide as he out-braked himself at the end of the Kemmel straight on Lap 13, the 2007 world champion complained on the pit radio that he had to brake heavily mid-straight at speeds of more than 300kph when he felt Verstappen’s Red Bull moved late onto the line he was taking.
Verstappen also had an incident with Sergio Perez’s Force India late in the race as he struggled to an 11th-place finish, where in a move that mirrored his Lap 13 clash with Raikkonen, he pushed the Mexican off the track after braking too late.
The weekend will hopefully serve as a learning curve for the teenager. There was a lot to admire about his weekend in terms of the raw speed and his determination to fight hard, even with a car weakened by some aerodynamic damage. But, with a tiny bit of circumspection things could have gone a lot more smoothly.
Diving into the inside at the tightest first corner of the F1 season was always going to be a huge risk, especially if you are putting the fate of your car in the hands of others, which Verstappen was. Verstappen took that chance, this time it did not work out.
He is a racing driver and you want to see them going for gaps, but if he had been patient, fallen into line behind the Ferraris and come out of the corner still in fourth, but with a healthy car, he would have had a great chance to get second still.
There is also the case of knowing when to pick your fights. Verstappen’s Red Bull was wounded and yet he still pushed beyond the limit twice, once each with Raikkonen and Perez, he failed to make the corner himself while braking on the inside at the end of the Kemmel straight, forcing his rivals to run off the circuit to avoid major contact.
Lewis Hamilton gave a masterclass in patience, which Verstappen would be wise to learn from.
Hamilton started at the back in his Mercedes, but never panicked and never put his car at risk. He trusted in his machinery and skills to move up the field, and picked his moments with minimal risk to gain track position as he ended up third.
Verstappen does not have as good a car as Hamilton, but there is no way he should have finished down in 11th. Verstappen must learn from this.
Sunday was one of his poorest days since moving over to Red Bull from Toro Rosso, but with a little more maturity, which will come with more race time, he will learn to pick when to fight and when to yield.
Sunday did make for “good television” but for Verstappen even better viewing will come if he can move on from this and return to the podium, starting with Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
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