Formula 1 sporting Boss Ross Brawn has said that he believes Max Verstappen “still has some growing to do” before he contends and fights for the title.
Verstappen ended the championship in fourth place after recovering from a difficult start with crashes, to winning in Austria and Mexico and finishing the second half of the season with the most points other than Lewis Hamilton.
Both Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel expect a title challenge from the Red Bull driver, but Brawn believes he still has work to do before.
“Next season will mark the start of a new cycle, with Max Verstappen playing a key role in that development,” Brawn said (crash.net).
“The Dutchman had a great season, particularly in the second half, when only Hamilton scored more points.”
“At just over 21 years of age, Max already seems like a veteran, displaying an incredible talent that is bound to seem him be a major player over the coming decade.”
“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.”
In Brazil Verstappen confronted Esteban Ocon physically after the race as the two collided during the race while the Dutchman was leading, this led to the FIA handing him a public-service punishment.