Before then, this hard-charging, hard-trying Dutchman had established a reputation as a quick driver who crashed too much.

This was a little unfair - many of the crashes were the result of either failures, or of trying to push a poor car harder than it wanted to go.

He rescued his name to a large degree in 2000, proving to be far more consistent and less accident-prone than his reputation suggested.

Verstappen has driven some good races in his latest spell at Arrows, and there is no doubt he deserves a place in F1.