TAKE IT TO THE MAX
Coulthard: Verstappen is THAT good... he’s up there with the greats Hamilton, Schumacher and Senna
MAX VERSTAPPEN’S name should now sit alongside other F1 greats – because he is “a winning machine”.
The bold statement was made by pundit and former driver David Coulthard, who believes that the young Dutch ace has everything he needs to carve out his own place in the sport’s pantheon.
Verstappen wrapped up the title with four races to spare and heads to America this weekend having secured back-to-back world crowns.
Coulthard (above) believes the 25-year-old should already be mentioned in the same breath as the most venerated drivers.
He said: “I was at a sponsors’ track day with Max last week – he looked chilled and happy.
“What struck me most is that he looked the same after winning the second title as he did after the first.
“He’s a human being who doesn’t really respond to what people are saying about him, good or bad. His feet are planted on the ground. The guy is right up there with Lewis Hamilton, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher – name your favourite driver from the past – he’s a winning machine.
“Knowing his father Jos, who I raced against, and his manager Raymond Vermeulen, they have a great structure around Max.
“There is absolute clarity over who does what. Max gets on with training and driving.
“I don’t want to say that he doesn’t care, because he’s got his own voice, but, from what
I’ve seen, here is someone who is totally unaffected by what anyone thinks.
“He is a committed racing driver and when he’s not driving, he’s in the simulator or out e-gaming, or whatever it is that he does.
“Whatever the cloud or the controversy over the FIA’s findings
into the budgetcaps row, the benefit of youth is that you don’t know what you don’t know – and you don’t care, either.
“He’s 25 and no one in the paddock – regardless of the manner in which those two titles were won – can say that he doesn’t deserve them because he got lucky.”
This year’s championship has fizzled out into a one-horse race after Ferrari failed to build on their early-season promise and Mercedes proved incapable of regaining their stranglehold on the sport.
Unlike last year, Red Bull breezed to victory with plenty to spare. Coulthard believes that, with the friction over the budget caps and the jostling for position behind them, next year’s title race could be a cracker. He said: “Max obviously took a long-term
Here is someone unaffected by what anyone
thinks
view with Red Bull – similar to what Charles Leclerc has done with Ferrari. They have both made their beds.
“I was amazed to hear Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff say that Lewis is thinking of going another five years, which was brilliant for us because he’s been a benchmark for so long now.
“The fact that he’s a seven-time champion and so motivated and ‘on it’, Mercedes will undoubtedly unlock their potential in these regulations, so they are pretty well set up.
“Imagine if we had Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes going toe-totoe in next year’s World Championship? That would be progress – that would be fantastic.”
David Coulthard is presenting F1 Grand Prix highlights on C4