"Max reminded me of Michael Schumacher" - Max Verstappen's 'extremely high level' of driving praised by former team boss

Max Verstappen reminded Franz Tost of Michael Schumacher when they first met. The AlphaTauri team principal, who was Verstappen's first team boss, felt the reigning world champion was an exceptional driver in the rain.

Speaking to F1 Insider in an interview, Tost said:

“I first met him with his father at the Nürburgring. He was still racing karts at the time. The second time I met him was at the Norisring in Formula 3. He drove in the rain in his own class. It was as if he were the only driver who had discovered the dry line. Immediately, Max [Verstappen] reminded me of Michael Schumacher. You could see what a mega talent he was.”

Tost spoke about his first meeting with Max Verstappen at the Nurburgring circuit in Germany while the latter was driving in Formula 3. Verstappen's wet weather skills in the risky section of Norisring on the track impressed the AlphaTauri chief and reminded him of F1 legend Michael Schumacher.

Describing the Dutchman’s testing debut in Suzuka, the AlphaTauri team principal said:

“We got a lot of criticism when we entrusted him with our F1 car at the age of 17. He didn't even have his driver's license! He rode his first training session on Suzuka, one of the most difficult circuits of all, but Max did it sovereignly!”

Tost revealed how giving the 17-year-old Dutchman a test drive in a Toro Rosso car in 2014 at the Suzuka circuit drew a lot of criticism. The Austrian team boss, however, claims that Verstappen executed his debut test perfectly in the rain in Japan. Following the test, the reigning world champion raced in his first season with Red Bull's sister team Toro Rosso in 2015.

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Franz Tost believes Max Verstappen drives at an exceptional level which makes him unique

Admitting that Max Verstappen was aggressive in races at the beginning of his career, Franz Tost feels the Dutchman has improved since then. He then claimed that Verstappen’s best quality was his car control at high speeds.

The Austrian believes the reigning champion is driving at an extremely competitive level and only Charles Leclerc can come close to beating him. Having said that, the AlphaTauri chief feels the world is yet to see the best of the 24-year-old Red Bull driver.

Elaborating on Verstappen’s talent, Tost said:

“Max never had any problems with the high speeds of an F1 car. He had everything under control from the start. In his first races, he was maybe a little too aggressive at times. Sometimes that led to a crash, such as during the Monaco GP in 2015 when he slammed into the back of Romain Grosjean.”

Complimenting Max Verstappen as an exceptional talent, Franz Tost said:

“Today, Verstappen drives at an extremely high level. Still, we haven’t seen the maximum of him yet. Only Charles Leclerc can come close to Max. Lewis Hamilton has already suffered too much under the ravages of time.”

Earlier in the season at the 2022 F1 Bahrain GP, Tost sat down with Sportskeeda to speak about the Dutchman’s grooming process during his tenure at Red Bull’s junior team. In the exclusive interview, Tost was similarly insistent that Verstappen is yet to display his best drives, despite achieving the title.