Mature' Verstappen has found key to title: 'Can win consistently'

Max Verstappen took his third win of the season in France, closing in on championship rival Lewis Hamilton. According to Mika Hakkinen, Mercedes will be worried about him.

Mercedes worried

With a clever strategy, Red Bull Racing managed not only to help Max Verstappen to victory last Sunday but also to guide Sergio Perez to the podium. With Verstappen and Perez at 1 and 3, on a track that was actually considered a Mercedes circuit, Red Bull made a big impression.

''The Red Bull team is operating very well, making the right decisions and learning from their mistakes, such as in Spain when they lost out to Mercedes on strategy. This time, in another highly strategic race, they made all the right calls.  Mercedes seemed unable to respond, even though both Lewis and Valtteri were sure the strategy was wrong'', says Hakkinen in his column for Unibet.com.

Mature Verstappen

''After their disappointing street-circuit performances in Monaco and Azerbaijan, I really expected Mercedes to recover well in France.  The team will now be worried that, with the next two Grands Prix at Red Bull’s home event in Austria, they risk falling further behind in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championships.''

Hakkinen did enjoy the mature Verstappen in France. ''Max was annoyed to lose the lead at the start of the race, but I think the way he calmed down and focused on delivering the strong two-stop strategy was really impressive.  He has matured as a driver, and he now knows what it takes to win consistently. This is the key to winning a World Championship,'' concludes the 1998 and 1999 world champion.