Former F1 Champion Alain Prost expects Max Verstappen to become more mature with his approach come the 2022 season.
Verstappen winning a World Title was seen only as a matter of time. He has impressed everyone involved with F1 since making his debut with Toro Rosso back in 2015. Over the years, he’s made massive strides both as a driver, and as a person on the F1 grid.
Despite his potential, he was often labeled as being too aggressive with his approach which led to him making many mistakes. However, the Max Verstappen we saw in 2021 was different to the ones we saw before.
4-time World Champion Alain Prost praised the 24-year old for a stellar season. He also said that now that Max has won the Title, he can take his foot off the gas.
A class above, @Max33Verstappen 🔝#F1 | @redbullracing pic.twitter.com/2ndEA8J7dt
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 22, 2021
“Max has had an excellent season. I remember when he started F1 we often said, ‘He’s very fast, he has everything, but he pushes a little too hard and that’s why he makes mistakes.'” he said to Motorsport.com.
“But that’s normal when you’re very young. But now he’s getting better and better and he didn’t make many mistakes this year. Maybe he did in qualifying in Jeddah, but he was struggling there. So things like that can happen. If you have a world championship in your pocket, now you think differently and drive differently.”
“Once you win, the pressure will definitely go down. Max will know better now when to push and when to take less risk. So in the end, he’ll be an even better racing driver.”
Also read: Former Red Bull driver thinks Max Verstappen has got into Lewis Hamilton’s head
Both Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen deserved the Title, says Prost
The legendary French driver looks back on the 2021 season as the ‘best of all time’. He believes that the fierce Hamilton-Verstappen rivalry added to the increasing popularity of the sport made this year unforgettable.
“I think if you look at the whole picture, the sport, the human side, the popularity of F1 and the way young people are starting to watch Formula 1. It was the best season ever.”
He went on the talk about how good 7-time World Champion Hamilton was. The Brit went to the season finale level on points with Verstappen but narrowly missed out on his 8th.
A title battle we will never forget
Thank you#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/aDYvg00KuQ
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 12, 2021
“I think they both deserve to be world champions and both have given us an incredible show this year. At the end of the day, it’s Formula 1 and it’s good for Max, I’m very happy for him. It’s sad for Lewis.” the former McLaren driver said.
“You can’t choose between Max or Lewis this year, they are equal in my opinion. You can comment on anything, we can talk about Silverstone, for example, but at the end of the day, both deserved the world titles.”
Also read: Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz praises the high standards of the existing talent pool in Formula 1
