Former F1 driver Felipe Massa believes Max Verstappen has matured immensely to gain prominence in the sport and will soon be an F1 champion.
Max Verstappen broke into the F1 scene with massive hype, and his talent reflected the reason behind it. However, he certainly made some unforced errors, which used to cost Red Bull.
But the team never laid any doubt in his abilities and kept giving him resources, as they believed he would be their future. Moreover, when he started in F1, Verstappen was still a teenager.
But now, at the age of 24, the Dutchman plays a pivotal role in Red Bull. Talking about him, Felipe Massa believes after that tumultuous start, Verstappen is now ready to win.
“I think maybe in his first two, three years, he was very inconsistent,” said Massa on the F1 Nation podcast.”He was really, really quick all the time, doing amazing races, but also doing some stupid mistakes, like closing the car on braking points, stupid things that were just causing him this impression that he’s not mature.”
Max Verstappen grew when there was no one even to challenge him
Usually, with every rising star, there is a leading figure who nourishes them. But after Ricciardo’s exit, there was no one for Verstappen to seek a mentor. Yet, he rose to be one of the best drivers on the grid.
“Maybe after the second part of the season, in his last year with Daniel [Ricciardo] in Red Bull, he just changed a little bit his maturity,” Massa added.
“He started to make a lot fewer mistakes, he started to respect a lot more the rules. Even the year after, when he didn’t have really a big competition in terms of a teammate, inside the team, I think he grew up massively.”
“Today, I think he’s really mature, quick, doing an amazing job, also no mistakes – so he’s ready to win.”
