Max Verstappen is so good he can make onions cry, he can win a staring contest with a statue and he can make a cat bark.

Watching Mad Max spend an hour and fifty driving around the 5.8km Honda-owned Suzuka Circuit last Sunday was like watching Leonardo da Vinci paint the Mona Lisa. Watching on TV you don't get a feeling for just how skilful all the F1 drivers are. They drive 40km/h faster than the speed a fighter jet takes off at, their bodies are racked by G forces five times their body weight which can cause blood to pool in their legs, less oxygen go to their brains and they actually stop breathing in high speed corners.

And then there are the necks. Notice that F1 drivers have thick necks. Apart from anything else they need their neck muscles to be strong during the G forces that are trying to push their necks to one side. Usually hanging a 30kg weight off your neck and lifting it up and down does the trick.

But there was only one artist out on Sunday. Watching Maxie's absolute control of the car, the track and the race was a sublime experience.

Now we all know it's really the reality show, the Real Drivers and Players of F1, that's attracting the big audiences. Ricciardo's prang on lap one only adds to the downward pressure on the nicest person in F1's career; former Jordan and Jaguar F1 technical director Gary Anderson gives Alpine, Sauber and Mercedes all an F (failing dismally); Alpine owner Renault secretly have the team up for sale despite running a very consistent last all season.

Talking of Aston Martin – billionaire fashion industry mogul Larry Stroll is now our favourite car company owner. On Thursday he told a packed audience of investors: "We will continue to make them (petrol-powered cars) as long as we are allowed to make them." That's despite the Soap Dodger government banning the sale of new petrol or diesel cars from 2035.

Talking of McLaren: if you aren't heading off to Monte Carlo next month for the Bonhams Les Grandes Marques a Monaco then you won't be getting driving lessons in Mika Hakkinen's 2013 McLaren P1 Coupe Validation Prototype 3 offered directly from the two-time Formula 1 World Champion's garages. Pay a lazy $3m and Mika, 55, will spend a day with you on a track.

Talking Ferrari, "reader 17" bought a Ferrari Roma ($430k) in 2021. "It's now travelled 8000km. The problem is, it constantly breaks down and Ferrari cannot find the fault." Naturally we reached out to Fezzer Australasia communications manager Ryan Lewis who says: "Ferrari Australasia is committed to its clients, and an investigation into the situation has been carried out."

Talking Hyundai, Reader 10 Travis Morgan purchased a brand new MY22 Hyundai Santa Fe Active last year from Callahan Motors in Warrnambool. "As we drove home, I noticed a vibration which was intermittent and varied in intensity." The vibration has continued across the past 10 months and has been in the workshop at Mornington Hyundai more times than Travis would like to remember.

jcp.com.au