“He's a new breed of driver” - Former F1 champion lauds Max Verstappen for attaining ‘perfection’ this season

Modified Oct 11, 2023 07:51 GMT

Qatar F1 GP Auto Racing — Max Verstappen smiles on the podium after winning the 2023 F1 Qatar Grand Prix. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Former F1 driver-turned-pundit Damon Hill recently showered praise on Max Verstappen and dove deep into how the Dutchman is a new kind of talented F1 driver. The Red Bull star has now won three World Championships and is considered one of the greatest drivers in F1 history.

Speaking about Max Verstappen on Sky Sports F1, Hill stated that it is now extremely difficult for Mercedes to overthrow Max Verstappen and Red Bull. He also used the word 'perfection', which other teams and drivers need to achieve in order to challenge the three-time world champion.

He said:

"They've [Mercedes] got a tall order to match or overturn the Red Bull combination with Max Verstappen driving, they have come close to perfection this season, they really have, and they've broken a lot of records that have stood for a long time.

"He's ticked off loads of records this year and they seem unstoppable. So, you need to achieve perfection to be able to beat them."

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Damon Hill also went deep into Max Verstappen's rearing and how he is a different kind of F1 driver, one who already has a father who has raced in F1 and is well-versed with the ins and outs of the sport. Max must have learned quite a lot from his father as he was growing up.

On this, Hill said:

"He's a new breed of driver whereby he started very young. In Max's case, his father was a Formula 1 driver, so he had all that experience of Jos Verstappen coaching him and giving him all the right direction.

"He's got a good head on his shoulders and is mature. He came into Formula 1 aged 17, before he could even driver a road car, and was both volatile and quick. He's managed to combine his youth and speed with experience now and I think understands now what the job is. He's just getting better and better."

Max Verstappen shares his mentality on losing in racing

Though Max Verstappen is currently dominating the sport and winning almost every race, this was not the case for most of his racing career.

Speaking on Red Bull's Mind Set Win podcast, he explained how he is not afraid of losing, even though he hates it. He understands that losing is also part of the game and revealed how he has lost much more than he has won in his career.

The Dutchman said:

“No, I'm not afraid of losing. I do hate losing, but that's also part of the game. At the end of the day, you lose more than you win. I lost a lot also before winning in F1.