F1 News

Former F1 driver Chandhok believes Verstappen can win World Championship

Former F1 driver Chandhok believes Verstappen can win World Championship

17-01-2019 17:03
2

Bevan Youl

Former Formula 1 driver Karun Chandhok has said Max Verstappen is “mature enough” to compete for the Formula 1 World Championship.

The Dutch driver was affected by various mistakes at the start of the 2018 season but recovered to finish the second half second best to Lewis Hamilton and finishing fourth overall in the Championship.

Speaking at Autosport International Chandhok compared Verstappen to the Likes of Hamilton when he won his first title in 2008, “I think Max has now matured enough and he’s ready to be world champion.” 

The ex-Lotus driver also said it relies on whether Honda can provide the necessary engine for Red Bull.

“It’s whether Honda can deliver for Red Bull. There were signs of Honda starting to get it together if you look at the back end of last year, they introduced an engine upgrade for Toro Rosso in Suzuka that really seemed to make a step forward.”

Toro Rosso, the sister team of Red Bull, used Honda engines for the 2018 season and made good enough results and progress for the parent team to switch from Renault.

The Japanese manufacturer had endured a tough few seasons of engine reliability and problems with McLaren before providing for Toro Rosso.

“We saw more evidence about it in Austin and know Red Bull are very optimistic about it. If they can deliver I think that’s great for F1.”

“F1 needs Honda to be successful because then it means Red Bull will be successful and we’ll have three teams competing at the front. That’s really important.”