Max Verstappen stands at a fork in the road. One path leads to what he and many others who recognise a brilliant, irresistible talent regard as his manifest destiny of winning the world championship. Exactly what lies in the other direction - perhaps more wins but never the grand prize - is unclear, but Verstappen must turn away from the direction he's facing.

He's always been a lightning rod for criticism, but 2018 is the first time Verstappen has made a sustained run of errors that has blighted a campaign.

In Australia, frustration at being mugged by Kevin Magnussen at the first corner turned to impatience as he struggled to get back past. This led to a messy exit and running a kerb, picking up the floor damage that led to his later spin. In Bahrain he crashed in Q1 and then, in forcing Lewis Hamilton needlessly wide at the exit of Turn 1 after losing the corner, he hit the Mercedes and picked up terminal damage.

About Edd Straw

Edd Straw is a former Editor and Editor-in-Chief of Autosport, who is now Motorsport Network’s Digital Content Manager.

Originally from Guernsey in the Channel Islands, he joined Autosport in 2002 having graduated from Warwick University. He went on to cover a wide range of categories from club motorsport to the World Touring Car Championship and Le Mans to Formula 3 before switching to F1 full-time at the 2008 French Grand Prix. He then became Autosport Magazine Editor in November 2014.

After becoming Editor-in-Chief of Autosport in June 2016, he took up his current wider Motorsport Network role in October the following year and continues to contribute as a writer, F1 correspondent and as host of The Autosport Podcast.

In his spare time, he was formerly a club racer whose abilities did not match his enthusiasm in a variety of categories ranging from Stock Hatch to the European Ferrari Challenge.