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Jordan warns: 'This kid (Verstappen) is going to win 10 world titles'
Eddie Jordan thinks Max Verstappen has it in him to win 10 world titles in Formula 1. As long as Adrian Newey remains employed at Red Bull Racing, the Austrian racing stable will remain dominant, Jordan suspects. However, if the former team owner has to choose between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, he will still choose the latter.
Hamilton's path to F1
Jordan explains that, in his view, Hamilton has had to take a slightly tougher route towards the king class of motorsport. Whereas Verstappen might have had a slightly harder time, Hamilton has had a much harder time due to prejudice and a difficult financial situation.
"Well, in my opinion, I’m a little bit biased towards the old guys. I just think Verstappen has had it quite easy coming through – his mother was a brilliant driver, and his father, Jos, drove for me way back years ago. So I know the family growing up, whereas it was never easy for Lewis. We know there was a colour issue, there were all sorts of issues coming through, and his father had three jobs to bring him through to it," Jordan said at talkSPORT.
The flamboyant Irishman continued: “I think his path, his journey, was a tougher path. Therefore, I’m slightly biased towards Lewis because I think adversity and all of those things come into play in confidence and will to win and being picked up by the right people. But it’s minimal. The gap between those two is tiny.”
Verstappen on a roll
Despite Hamilton having a slight edge over Verstappen at Jordan at the moment, he does believe that with Red Bull, Verstappen can shatter Hamilton's record of seven world titles. In the first place, Verstappen owes his world titles to himself, of course, but the presence of Adrian Newey also plays a huge role in this.
"Beware, guys, the best seven-times World Champion Lewis Hamilton and seven-times Michael Schumacher, this kid, first up, he’s gonna push it over 10, no question" Jordan stated. "The thing is, we’ve got to keep Adrian Newey alive because he’s the kingpin. He makes that car. He’s just the most incredible, probably the most successful ever, racecar designer on this planet."
Adrian Newey extended his contract at Red Bull this season. Until when he signed is not known, but Helmut Marko spoke of a "multi-year contract". With that, the Milton Keynes-based formation has kept Newey out of Ferrari's hands.