Former world champion Damon Hill says that Max Verstappen is not like Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo or Sebastian Vettel.
Former world champion Damon Hill praised Max Verstappen for his racing style and life off the track. He said that the young champion is different from Daniel Ricciardo, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.
Verstappen has continued to dominate the 2022 season after a sticky start at the beginning of the season. Red Bull has won the last six races of this season with Verstappen crossing the line first in five of them.
Hill praised the Dutchman for having the quality of just getting in the car, winning races and enjoying his life off the track. The 1996 world champion went on to say that Verstappen is not distracted’ like Ricciardo is by being a ‘performer’ while Hamilton and Vettel are ‘campaigning’.
Hill said, “He’s not sentimental about anything. He’s very smart. He’s impressed me with his maturity – even from the early days when he was 17 years old.”
“At that age, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. He’s always wanted to be an F1 driver. A world champion. A winner. The way I read it is that his life is directed in that one way.”
“Some people aren’t like that – most of the young guys are – they’ve been racing carts since they were tiny,” he further added.
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Max Verstappen credits his father for his success
The Red Bull driver’s father Jos Verstappen switched his focus from a career in F1 to his son’s career upon retiring at the end of 2003.
As Max took his 26th Grand Prix win at the Canadian GP on Father’s Day, he credited all of his successes to his father, Jos.
He said, “Without my dad, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now,” said the 24-year-old. “So what he did for me is difficult to explain.
“You know, as soon as he stopped in F1, he basically dedicated the next 12 years to make sure…he would try everything and he did everything for me to be where I am right now.”
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