In the global sporting landscape, Formula 1 is one of the toughest arenas to break into. Naturally, the meteoric costs of going motor racing mean that every so often, a talented driver might never even be able to showcase his abilities. Yet, the Red Bull junior program has somehow been able to consistently find diamonds in the rough and groom them into finished products.
Drivers like Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen have won multiple titles for the main team in different eras of the sport. But their journey began at the same place—the Bulls’ sister team, RB (formerly Toro Rosso).
Both these drivers made their full-time debuts in F1 under the tutelage of Franz Tost. Vettel came into the fray when the team was still branded as Toro Rosso in 2007, and Verstappen too, did the same eight years later.
Naturally, the Austrian former racing driver has a keen eye for young talent, and saw the duo’s progress up close. On the Inside Line podcast, Tost explained how both of them played a pivotal role in developing the car but had different approaches.
“Sebastian Vettel asked always [questions] very in detail. He wanted to know every small detail. Max wants to know details but only if there are problems,” began the 69-year-old who left the Faenza-based outfit at the end of the 2023 season, on the Inside Line F1 podcast.
Tost went on to highlight how the Dutchman wanted to get hands-on experience of the car on track and look for the deficiencies. It is only then that he would sit down with the engineers and go in depth. “Vettel is a little bit another type of person,” he added.
Max Verstappen has moved up to second place in the F1 standings, surpassing Vettel!! pic.twitter.com/xh5GOXfGro
— Emily Claire Bennett (@zylaishabooker) April 24, 2025
On the other hand, Vettel wanted to get all the information he could from the very get-go to have a more informed understanding of the car.
There are differences between the approaches the duo have that Tost went into but he also highlighted one significant area of convergence. Both Vettel and Verstappen, in his opinion, shared the same hunger to succeed.
In fact, in the past, the Austrian had seen many drivers who had the same amount of talent as the two four-time world champions but were never able to succeed and get to the pinnacle of motorsport because of that one missing ingredient.
Interestingly, Tost explained that he had witnessed many parents, especially fathers pushing their kids to race when they did not want to. This, too, played a key role in their failure as the motivation to do good on track wasn’t coming from the inside.
Verstappen, however, wishes to take a different approach on this front. With him expecting his first child with his girlfriend, Kelly Piquet, he said that he doesn’t necessarily want his children to race but if they ever suggested it themselves, then he would give them his full support.
“If he or she wants to do it and I see that there is talent I would support it of course, naturally, but I really hope not,” he said as per GPBlog. The 27-year-old is perhaps worried that the weight of his glorious successes in F1 may bog down his offspring if they undertake the same career pathway.
