"Honda still need to find some additional power to close on Ferrari and Mercedes"

Mika Hakkinen has been impressed with Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing and thinks that Honda just need to up their power outlet a little bit and then they will be able to compete with Mercedes and Ferrari for the championship. 

“This year has been an important one for Max," Hakkinen said in his Unibet column. "In the first half of 2018 he made some mistakes, overdriving a car which was not quite quick enough, but he settled down and this year has been formidable. His race victories in Austria, Germany and Brazil showed how strong he is and how well the Red Bull Honda partnership is working.

“The engineers at Honda still need to find some additional power to close on Ferrari and Mercedes, but when you consider that Max finished third in the World Championship for Drivers this was a significant achievement."

Verstappen will be a genuine contender in 2020 and Red Bull and Honda will be working relentlessly over the winter to ensure that their man is on the top step.