Albers on Verstappen: 'He's a natural talent, not a working talent'

After nine races, Max Verstappen has a lead of more than 30 points over Lewis Hamilton in the battle for the title. Red Bull and Max are currently dominating Formula 1, but according to Christijan Albers no conclusions should be drawn too soon.

The ex-F1 driver says there are still many races to go and everything can change quickly, especially in Formula 1. He says this on the F1 Telegraph podcast. "It can turn around in a moment. There is a seventy to eighty percent chance that Verstappen will be world champion, but you must not forget Mercedes. We're not even half way through the season yet."

Silverstone in Mercedes' favour?

At least according to Albers, the difference will not be as big as it was in Austria. "In two weeks we will race at Silverstone, there are mainly high-speed corners there, compared to last weekend. In Austria we had mainly mid-speed corners, not really high-speed. On top of that, Mercedes will be bringing updates for their home race in Britain. So Max did really well, but the RB16B was also really strong at the Red Bull Ring. We'll have to see if that continues at Silverstone."

Max the natural talent

According to Albers, there is a difference between pure talent, and talent that takes a lot of time, training and energy to develop. "Max is really a natural talent, not a 'working talent'. Working talents have to work really hard to gain time and be fast, but natural talents already have a lot. Max feels when he has to do something, he has it in the back of his ass, who knows where to brake. He makes the difference with that; you either have that, or you don't."

Verstappen can show off his natural talent again in two weeks' time at the Silverstone circuit, where the Dutchman hopes to move further ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes.