Young British driver Max Jolly is one of the rising stars in karting currently. Many have dubbed the young boy as the next ‘Max Verstappen’. Despite netizens linking him with the Dutchman, Jolly has interestingly revealed that he is a massive fan of Lando Norris. Now, the McLaren driver himself has issued a two-word response to Jolly’s post.
Norris responded to Jolly after the young boy took to Instagram and put up a video, in which he said, “Hi, I am Max and everyone in the comments calls me Mini Max Verstappen. But come on“.
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After making these remarks, Jolly showed off the merchandise he bought from Norris’ official store, LN. On watching the same, Norris gave a simple reply to Jolly’s post by stating, “Good lad“.
However, it’s pertinent to note that Jolly is not the only youngster who has been dubbed the next Max Verstappen. Many also believe that Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli can follow in the footsteps of the Red Bull driver after delivering some impressive performances in the various F4 championships he competed in last year.
Why is Andrea Kimi Antonelli being compared to Max Verstappen?
At the age of just 26, Max Verstappen has established himself as one of the best F1 drivers of all time. He is already third on the list of drivers with the most number of wins (54), having made his F1 debut at the age of just 17.
Although it is not possible for Andrea Kimi Antonelli to make his F1 debut before he turns 18 because of a recent rule change, the 17-year-old Italian could compete at the top tier of Formula Racing as early as next year. There are rumors that Antonelli could replace seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, who will depart Mercedes for Ferrari next year.
However, before Antonelli makes that step up, he will have to continue impressing in the lower Formula categories. In the 2024 campaign, he will compete for Prema Racing in F2. Similarly to Max Verstappen, Antonelli also skipped an entire Formula category.
Verstappen signed for Toro Rosso (now Visa Cash App RB) in 2015, a year after he finished third in the FIA European Formula 3 Championship. Since Antonelli is one of the only drivers who have skipped an entire Formula category since Verstappen did, many believe that the Italian could follow in the Red Bull driver’s footsteps.
