Brawn sees Verstappen on fire: "You can see that maturity very clearly"

Ross Brawn saw an excellently composed Max Verstappen during the Styrian Grand Prix. The 66-year old Briton states that the 23-year old driver from Limburg has matured over the years and that he is now reaping the rewards. Verstappen is often faultless and according to Brawn therefore has a great chance to beat Lewis Hamilton this year in the battle for the world championship in 2021.

"I’ve said more than once before that I thought Max was championship material. We have to remember what we saw when he first arrived in F1. He was pretty raw and unpolished. I’d say we are seeing that same degree of speed with very polished performances now," Brawn explained in his column for Formula 1.

According to Liberty Media's sporting director, all the ingredients are in place for Verstappen and Red Bull to make 2021 a highly successful season. "He’s got good judgement, works well with the team, has a good rapport with the team, and he’s reached that level of maturity now where he has genuinely got a very strong chance of winning the championship this year – and he’s doing it in a very controlled, refined style.

Verstappen now staying out of trouble

Verstappen made his F1 debut for Toro Rosso in 2015. After just over a year, he made the switch to Red Bull Racing, where he immediately managed to take victory at the Spanish Grand Prix. Still, the Dutchman kept making mistakes, including very unnecessary ones. Especially during the first half of 2017, Verstappen had to deal with a crisis of form.

"We knew from the beginning that he was quick, but got himself caught up in too many incidents that he should not have been involved in," says Brawn. Meanwhile, Verstappen has much more experience now and it shows. "You can see that maturity quite clearly – and he’s putting in some exemplary performances."