I am, by most accounts, a fairly decent driver. It has been how I have made my living for decades now. I have even done a fair amount of racing in some proper machinery over the years including most recently at Le Mans in a Mustang. But every so often, I’m humbled. Riding shotgun with four-time Formula 1 World Driver’s Champion Max Verstappen as he laces an 815-horsepower Ford Mustang GTD around a small French racetrack goes beyond humbling.

I’m in the south of France talking to Verstappen about driving, exploring the countryside and trying to understand his philosophy on cornering, specifically, and driving more generally.

Verstappen is an unassuming figure for all he’s accomplished. If we’re talking about the spectrum of F1 superstar drivers, he’s neither the cerebral Niki Lauda nor the playboy James Hunt. But he is a pure driver, as likely to stay up all night on his home sim for an endurance race as he is to enter a GT3 race under an assumed name or dominate a Formula 1 race. And regardless of what or where or how he’s driving, he is blisteringly, relentlessly quick.

That starts with how he seemingly shakes down a racetrack. Max doesn’t tiptoe around, trying to memorize the layout and braking points and apexes as a whole, but by devouring each individual corner while exploring where the grip is and where the grip isn’t. Verstappen brutalizes the track, poking and prodding until it gives up its secrets so he can go as fast as possible.

The Mustang GTD is a vehicle that’s quite happy with this sort of driving. A track-ready weapon, Verstappen immediately gets up to speed with the power delivery, the fantastic damper performance over the rough French surface, and the power of its standard carbon-ceramic brakes, just as he gets up to speed with the track. As he’s exploring the track’s limits, he’s also exploring the car’s.

Mechanical grip from the big tires feels endless as Max bounds over the curbs and the occasional smile that breaks through as he does so shows how much fun he’s having. It’s clear even from the passenger’s seat that he’s the rare driver that’s equal to a car of this caliber. Or perhaps that the Mustang GTD is that rarest of cars that can actually challenge and reward one of the greatest race drivers of his generation.

Either way, the abiding memory I will have will be of a delightful young man displaying his superhuman talent in a car that both of us will not forget in a hurry. Humbling indeed!

Chris Harris is an automotive journalist and host of Chris Harris on Cars.