Ex-AlphaTauri group principal Franz Tost has joked that Max Verstappen is so fast that he may win a Method 1 race driving a tractor.
Tost cited Verstappen’s velocity in Emil Frey Racing’s Ferrari 296 GT3 at Portimao as proof that he can outperform the competitors in any equipment.
Requested if the four-time champion’s latest F1 outcomes are right down to having a automobile that has been tailor-made to his model by Purple Bull, Tost advised Sport1: “Max Verstappen would win even with a tractor!
“For instance, final 12 months Max did a take a look at with a Ferrari GT race automobile. He was instantly two seconds sooner than the remainder. Max has a really feel for velocity, unbelievable imaginative and prescient, unbelievable automobile management, and an unbelievable really feel for a automobile – irrespective of which one.
“He would subsequently instantly get together with any Method 1 automobile. In fact, he’ll then fine-tune the automobile to finest go well with his driving model.”
Tost has recognized two key strengths of Verstappen, because the Dutchman begins to stake his declare among the many biggest F1 drivers of all time.
“Max is a really particular driver. Firstly, his pure velocity is superior to the others. And secondly, he’s so mentally robust that he can implement his supernatural expertise on the decisive second. That’s what makes him so superior,” he stated.
Tost’s group Toro Rosso ran Verstappen in F1 in 2015 and the early a part of 2016, with the then-teenager scoring two top-five finishes with the Faenza-based squad earlier than graduating to Purple Bull.
Nevertheless, Tost stated he knew Verstappen was destined for nice issues even earlier than he had stepped right into a method automobile within the European F3 in 2014.
“He already stood out in karting, on the European Championship,” recalled the Austrian, who stays a advisor for Purple Bull.
“Then got here the wet Method 3 race on the Norisring. Max drove so confidently that it appeared as if the others have been parked.
“That jogged my memory of Michael Schumacher, who was simply as dominant in a wet Method Ford race on the Salzburgring in 1987. I used to be working for [Schumacher’s] future supervisor, Willi Weber, on the time and instantly advised him: ‘It’s important to take him. You possibly can’t go fallacious!’”
