'Verstappen is now on the same level as Mercedes'

Max Verstappen finally seems to be competing for the world championship this season. Where Lewis Hamilton was supreme the last couple of years, Red Bull Racing did not have to surpass Mercedes during the first two Grands Prix. Franz Tost saw this coming for years.

The Austrian was the person who first brought Verstappen to Formula 1 years ago and has not regretted it for a moment. The Dutchman drove for Toro Rosso for only a short period, after which he suddenly went to Red Bull. At that team, he immediately conquered P1 in his first race in Barcelona.

Tost has seen Verstappen develop at lightning speed over the last few years and therefore sees it as no surprise that the Dutchman has a chance of winning the title this season. "To be honest, I did expect him to be in this position a bit earlier. Max was certainly ready for a title fight last year and maybe even at the end of 2019. But for obvious reasons it wasn't possible then," he points in conversation with the Algemeen Dagblad to the power of last year's car.

"If you can't compete optimally for wins, it's obviously difficult to fight for the championship," he continued. "So for me this comes as no surprise. It was also a question of having the right weapons and he has them now. He's in a great environment, in a great car and Honda has worked extremely hard on the power and reliability, last winter. The outcome is that he is now on the same level as Mercedes.''