Brawn on Verstappen: "It's easy to forget how young he is"

Ross Brawn has praised 21-year-old Max Verstappen for what he has achieved so far and believes that he can compete for the championship in 2019. 

In an interview published on the official Formula 1 website, Brawn said, "It's easy to forget how young he is. If you think of yourself at that age, with the exposure and pressure, what he is doing is pretty special.” 

“What we are seeing with Max is a great maturing of his approach, losing none of his speed and aggression but just being a bit more tempered in terms of how he attacks things. 2018 was another big step forward for Max. In the right car and right team, he’s world champion material for sure.

“Max will be the known reference in the team in 2019. That is always helpful in a team to have that continuity, if you have a troublesome car or you have some things to sort out, knowing the driver, knowing how to qualify what he says is very helpful. So I think it is great for the team.”

Red Bull have changed engine suppliers and are now using the Honda power outlet. With his prior relationship with Honda, Brawn has some ideas of how the partnership will go:

“Honda teaming up with Red Bull will be positive because Red Bull become a full works team. They haven’t been that I since their Jaguar days. They have had a very good relationship, most of the time, with their engine supplier, particularly during their successful world championships with Renault.

“It’s always a different challenge when you are a works team with an engine manufacturer. You have to hold hands and you have got to jump in together, work together, and be as one and that is the strength of that opportunity.