Verstappen: "I'm the New Vettel-Project at Red Bull"

Max Verstappen believes that in the eyes of youth scout and advisor Helmut Marko, he's taking over the Sebastian Vettel-role. The Dutchman hopes he can repay Marko's trust by offering him a success story similar to the one Vettel had at Red Bull.

Verstappen already is the youngest driver ever to score points in a race, to win a race, and the first ever Dutchman to win a race, and he has roughly three more years to break Vettel's record of becoming the youngest champion ever.

"I'm sort of his [Marko's] new project," the 20-year-old said to Auto Bild, "he wants to repeat the Vettel-story and win titles with me."

"I'm very proud of that. I hope we can achieve all those things and I become his latest achievement." 

The Dutch youngster would love to win a title within the next three years and become the youngest to ever do it, but he's not obsessed with breaking that record.

"I know how fond Vettel is of his records. It would be amazing of course [to break the record], but records aren't a thing I need to have in my life. The only thing that matters to me is that I become the champion at some stage."

Verstappen concludes by talking about his aggressive way of driving, and whether he should adjust that or not in order to become a champion.

"If you're battling for the title, you take less chances of course," he said. "A second place brings you closer to a title than a crash. It takes a different approach [to become a champion.] Last year I wanted to take every chance I had to win something. I had nothing to lose. I think my time in karting helped me figure out what to do to become a champion."