Max Verstappen’s personality may cloud an observer’s “judgment of the facts” of his brilliance, believes David Coulthard.

The Dutch driver is en route to his fourth World Championship title in F1 2024, with his Brazilian GP victory handing him all the momentum as the sport descends upon Las Vegas this weekend.

David Coulthard: Max Verstappen’s Brazil win a ‘lesson’ to the rest

Verstappen won the race at Interlagos having started from 17th place on the grid due to an engine penalty, while title rival Lando Norris started from pole.

However, Verstappen’s early laps quickly brought him into contention for the victory and, thanks to Red Bull pulling a strategy masterstroke by staying out on track as the rain intensity increased, Verstappen ended up ahead of Norris when the inevitable red flag was shown.

With Verstappen taking the restart from second, with Norris in fourth, the Dutch driver overtook race leader Esteban Ocon and streaked away to a near-20-second win at the chequered flag, while Norris made an error at Turn 1 to slip down to sixth place.

The result all but ended the Drivers’ Championship fight, with Verstappen only needing to finish in the top two in Las Vegas this weekend to clinch his fourth consecutive title.

But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Verstappen, whose defensive approach in recent races – due to a less competitive RB20 under him – resulted in strong criticism due to his aggression.

But Verstappen wasn’t cowed by the criticism, pointing to his experience as a three-time F1 World Champion as all the knowledge he needs to equip himself best for the title challenge.

As a driver who divides the fandoms due to his self-belief and willingness to engage in aggressive driving on-track, did Verstappen’s dominance in Brazil silence the critics and vindicate his take-no-prisoners attitude?

F1 Grand Prix winner turned TV broadcaster David Coulthard believes Verstappen’s controversies are no more than other drivers who can be considered the greatest in the sport, and that any individual’s failure to recognise Verstappen’s brilliance points to prejudice.

“I’m just a fan of the sport and, therefore, I’ve got a wee bit experience of the driving,” Coulthard told PlanetF1.com at the Red Bull Showrun in Galway, Ireland, last weekend.

“I’ve done a little bit of winning, and I’ve done a lot of losing, and I’ve observed some brilliant drivers over my time in and out.

“But it amazes me that, just because someone maybe doesn’t like him as a person, therefore that clouds their judgment on the facts.

“The facts are the guy is brilliant, he’s brilliantly fast. Yes, he’s controversial, but [Ayrton] Senna was controversial. Michael [Schumacher] was controversial.

“I’m not really sure there’s ever been an uncontroversial, very successful person in Formula 1, maybe if you go back to the 1960s and ’70s, when they literally were taking their lives in their hands. But as old as I am, I wasn’t around at that time, so I can’t make a judgment on it.

“So his drive in Brazil was a lesson to all the other drivers. It was on another level.

“So if somebody can’t acknowledge that and go, ‘That was brilliant’, then they have a problem. They have a prejudice problem, which is what causes so many problems in the world, doesn’t it?”

With Lando Norris’ first championship challenge all but over with three races left in the season, the British driver has had a steep learning curve to come to terms with the level of consistency and performance expected of him, and also just how hard a battle it can be with a rival driver unwilling to cede an inch.

“I think that Lando is a brilliantly fast race driver,” Coulthard said.

“He’s someone that I’ve known since he was a kid. I like Lando, but he’s learning what it is to be at the front line of people who define what’s acceptable.

“Michael was a better driver than me but, obviously, he was a competitor. I had to try and beat him. There were times I thought he went the wrong side of the sporting line.

“But, if the referee says it’s fine, you either use energy and time complaining about it, or you go, ‘Okay, that’s now defining what the rules are. Let’s move forward on that basis’.”