F1 News: Max Verstappen must "control his emotions" and "avoid pointless mistakes" to challenge for 2019 title

According to FOX Sports, Max Verstappen has been asked by Formula One sporting boss Ross Brawn to 'avoid pointless mistakes' and 'control his emotions' if the Dutchman plans to contend for the title alongside Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel in the upcoming season.

The 21-year-old Dutch driver had a decent 2018 season that saw him finish the drivers' championship in the fourth place with 249 points. Verstappen could have finished higher in the drivers' championship table if he had managed to avoid a few costly mistakes like the ones at Azerbaijan and Brazil.

After seeing a couple of quality performances during the 2018 season, the F1 sporting boss backed Verstappen to become the world champion in the not so distant future.

Ross Brawn said, "At just over 21 years of age, Max already seems like a veteran, displaying an incredible talent that is bound to see him a major player over the coming decade."

"The Dutchman had a great season, particularly in the second half, when only Hamilton scored more points," he added, pointing out that Verstappen showed excellent improvement during the second half of the season.

"He still has some growing to do, in order to avoid pointless mistakes and to control his emotions, as we saw in Interlagos because so far, he hasn’t found himself fighting for the title and in that situation the head counts just as much as the right foot."

If Max Verstappen manages to stick to the advice, and Honda delivers a competitive engine for Red Bull, expect the Dutchman to be a key player in the 2019 Formula One drivers' championship.

The 2019 Formula One season will commence on 17 March 2019 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne, Australia.