"He has an obviously tremendous natural ability, but he also has an inner determination and grit" - Max Verstappen's greatest strengths revealed by Red Bull's legendary CTO

Red Bull CTO Adrian Newey has praised Max Verstappen's determination and racing grit. The Briton praised Verstappen's driver feedback, which then helps Red Bull engineers dial up the perfect car for the weekend.

Dedicated F1 fans are no strangers to Adrian Newey, the man who for the past 30 years has built some of the most iconic championship-winning cars the sport has seen. He has helped F1 legends such as Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, Mika Hakkinen, and Sebastian Vettel find their way to F1's most coveted title.

As of the end of 2021, Max Verstappen is the latest name to find himself on that list after the Dutchman beat Lewis Hamilton in the iconic Red Bull RB16B.

When asked about Verstappen's strengths, Newey told RacingNews365.com:

"Obviously, you have to have a unique genetic makeup that makes you good at whatever your sport is, so F1 is [the] judgement of speed, reactions, balance, etc. That gets you to a certain level and, of course, you see some drivers that are naturally very good, but don't perhaps achieve as much as they should do."

"And you see other drivers who are the opposite. I think Max is one of those ones that combines both – where he has an obviously tremendous natural ability, but he also has an inner determination and grit to him that shines through."

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Adrian Newey praised Max Verstappen's feedback to engineers

While it can be argued that in the digital age, drivers don't need to provide accurate feedback to engineers anymore.

However, Newey disagrees with this notion, saying that while it is possible to know what the car is doing through various data collections, it is the driver's job to tell the engineer why it is doing so. This is where Max Verstappen excels as per the Briton.

Newey elaborated:

"Max is a very good example of the modern driver. Max's feedback... [he] won't tell you, 'I think I should stiffen the front spring' or something [like that]. But he will tell you, in great accuracy, what the car is doing. And that, for the engineer, is incredibly important."

Max Verstappen had a disappointing start to the 2022 season after failing to score points due to a fuel supply issue. However, the Dutchman bounced right back the following weekend, winning the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after an epic battle with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. While Leclerc still leads the drivers' standings heading to Melbourne, don't count the Dutchman out as he chases after a second world title.