Max Verstappen might have been in dominant form last season, winning a record 15 races in the course of the year, but the Red Bull team see no reason why he can't be even stronger this time around.
Verstappen finished last year with a 146 point lead in the final drivers standings, and had mathematically clinched his second championship after Japan with four races remaining.
As comprehensive as that looked, Red Bull chief engineer Paul Monaghan believes that the 25-year-old Dutch driver can do even better in 2023.
“Max is technically extremely gifted. He did a lot of work as a youngster, often guided by his father and you can see the legacy of that. He knows what he’s talking about within the car, and he knows what he wants.
“With his engineers, they know how to deliver a car that he finds nicely-balanced, easy to drive…," he continued. "Well not necessarily easy to drive, but driveable.
"It looks after its tyres well enough that he can manage a situation," he told the official Formula1.com website before Christmas.
“If you look at his record over the past seasons he’s been with us, it’s stunning. He wouldn’t achieve that if he wasn’t an exceptional driver.
"Can he improve? Yes of course he can. He might not thank me for saying that,” Monaghan laughed.
"There are areas he can get a little bit better. He’ll dig into himself and think what could he do better for a season. And it’s up to us to give him a car to go and demonstrate those skills.”
Winning a second consecutive world championship has propelled Verstappen to the top of the list of Formula 1's highest earning drivers, ahead of his fierce rival Lewis Hamilton.
And there was further good news for Verstappen in terms of his financial success when it was confirmed he would continue to receive sponsorship from Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo.
Frits van Eerd was forced to step down from his position as CEO of Jumbo in September, after being arrested by the Netherlands' public prosecution service due to alleged involvement in a money-laundering scheme involving real estate transactions, automotive trade and motorsport sponsorship. .
Jumbo has been forced to cancel all its other existing motorsports sponsorship contracts but will continue to back Verstappen in 2023.
"Motorsport has come to be seen in a special light for us," said interim CEO Ton van Veen. ""This also has consequences for our sponsorship. We will no longer continue with that.
"We will also take a critical look at our activities in motorsport. An exception to this is the contract with Max Verstappen."
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