F1 News
Surer hopes Verstappen can continue performances as team leader
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
Former Formula 1 driver Marc Surer thinks Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen is ready to take over the reigns at the team, as the Dutchman enters his fifth season in F1 despite only being 21.
Verstappen formed a duo with Daniel Ricciardo ever since Max got the promotion from Toro Rosso in 2016. The two very equally matched and gave us some great battles over the year, but Verstappen was always seen as the up and coming talent while Ricciardo was the veteran, the team leader.
Now that Ricciardo has left Red Bull in favour of Renault, it's up to Verstappen to take charge of the team, with Pierre Gasly only entering his second full season of F1.
"He can lead the team this year," Surer, a former Arrows and Brabham driver among other teams, told Motorsport.com
"At the end of 2018 he already took over and took responsibility. He was able to show maturity while also getting results on a consistent basis. He seems to have taken the step to perform consistently and he's very intelligent.
"Last year, at the start, he was poor and he disappointed me. I wondered if he was learning at all, but he was able to fight back. His end of the year was impressive, hopefully, he can do the same as a leader. He can compete at the front easily if he's smart."
It remains to be seen if Honda can give Red Bull the platform to compete for wins consistently, but if Verstappen gets the tools to win, the Dutchman is certainly expected to do so. After Lewis Hamilton, he picked up the most points in the second half of last season, which is very impressive if you consider Red Bull were nowhere near Ferrari and Mercedes with their package.