Stewart on Verstappen: 'Don't see much room for Max to improve'
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- Toby McLuskie
Jackie Stewart thinks it is incredibly clever how Max Verstappen has performed again this season. He doubts there is much room for Verstappen to get even better in the coming seasons. At the same time, Stewart does argue that it is easier to win consecutive world titles than in his time.
"Usually drivers develop until their late twenties. But to be honest, I don't see much room for Verstappen to improve," Stewart told German newspaper Bild in a major interview. In all circumstances, Verstappen gets the "absolute maximum" out of the car, according to the former world champion. "But you have to remember that he is not a normal 25-year-old. He has been racing Formula 1 since he was 17 and has much more experience than others his age."
Verstappen is on the verge of taking his third world title in a row. There is no real competition, as the RB19 is so dominant that the Austrian racing car won all the (sprint) races this season. Verstappen's only real challenger is teammate Sergio Perez, but the Mexican has also been unable to hold on for the last 10 Grands Prix.
Verstappen on the hunt for more titles
If Red Bull continues to be that much better than the rest over the next few years, Stewart says Verstappen looks set for more world titles. Without taking anything away from the 25-year-old Dutchman's achievement, he does say: "For Max, it is even slightly easier to win several world titles in a row than in my time."
The now 84-year-old Briton also explains why: "Because there are a lot more races. When I first became world champion in 1969, we only ran 11 Grands Prix. This year, the calendar consisted of 24 races (although a line went through the GPs in China and Imola, ed.). With that number, you can have a bad weekend and still have a chance of winning the title. But that's only half the truth."