"I don't care" - When Max Verstappen issued a stern warning to Lewis Hamilton and other F1 drivers

Max Verstappen became a regular in the world championship conversations in 2021. But the Dutchman was confident about himself long before he even got into a frontrunning car.

Under Dr. Helmut Marko's tutelage, Verstappen's meteoric rise in motorsport saw him become the youngest F1 driver to participate in a race in 2014. He was contracted with Scuderia Toro Rosso. The Dutchman managed to convert it to a full-time drive with the Italian outfit that is presently known as Alpha Tauri.

After an impressive P4 finish at the 2015 United States Grand Prix, speculation about Verstappen's future was rife. Reports claimed Mercedes and Ferrari were monitoring him. When he was told about the situation, the then 18-year-old was far from fazed. Here's what he told Sky Sports News at the time:

"It doesn't matter, as long as at one point I'm in a championship-winning car. I don't care about my team-mate."

When the idea of being paired with Lewis Hamilton was floated to Verstappen, he said:

"He's very talented, you can see that, otherwise you don't win the championship three times. You have some different people in F1, Lewis (Hamilton) has his own style, and I think it's good for F1. So definitely looking forward to that."

Eventually, it was Red Bull who called Max Verstappen up to replace Daniil Kyvat at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. The Dutchman would go on to win his maiden race with Red Bull, becoming the youngest F1 Grand Prix winner in the process.

Incidentally, his cause was aided greatly by Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashing out on lap 1 of the race in dramatic fashion.

Max Verstappen has 'fully matured' according to Dr. Helmut Marko

Six years after he made the aforementioned comments, Max Verstappen is now the fourth youngest world champion in the history of F1. The Dutchman started out in F1 with an aggressive image that has since been dialed down significantly.

Dr. Helmut Marko, one of the key figures in Verstappen's development during his formative years as a driver, feels the 24-year-old is 'fully matured' now.

The veteran Austrian, who helms Red Bull's fabled junior program, spoke to AutoRevue about Verstappen coming of age during an interview. He said:

“Don’t forget, he’s still only 24. Max (Verstappen) has clearly matured. That also has a bit to do with the cord being cut because he was trained and shaped very well by his father (Jos Verstappen). The relationship is still very close, but Max has his own opinions today."

He added:

"This maturation process was sometimes not so visible from the outside, but it quickly reached a peak because when something didn’t go right in training he always exploded. Today he is calm. We had technical problems a couple of times. Now he just sees the whole thing.”

Max Verstappen is planning to return for his title defense with the #1 on his new car, as is the right reserved by reigning world champion in the sport.