Verstappen shows rivals 'how racing should be'

Max Verstappen is showing his rivals in F1 "how racing should be", according to Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko.

The 19-year-old has made a big impact since making his debut for Toro Rosso at the start of the 2015 season, being promoted to Red Bull this year and winning in Barcelona. Often fighting with Mercedes or Ferrari at the front of the field, Verstappen's driving has come under scrutiny and the FIA clarified regulations to outlaw moving under braking after some of the Dutch driver's defensive manoeuvres.

However, Marko believes Verstappen is showing the current drivers how racing used to be in the past, comparing his arrival in the sport to the likes of Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher.

"What I see is that he brings a completely new approach to the ‘reigning establishment’!" Marko told the official F1 website. "He shows them again how racing should be - how it was in the past.

"I remember when guys like Senna and Schumacher came, they also had a different approach and were a shock awakening for the establishment of their time. They also were criticised massively.

"Now we have a young, hungry, sexy young driver, with a devil-may-care attitude about the spoils of former champions - whether they have won once, twice, three times or even four times."

And Marko says the comparisons with the likes of Senna also stretch to Verstappen's wet weather skills after his performance in Brazil.

"I saw a similar drive from Max at the Norisring in F3 some years ago: again in a league of his own - with a line of his own. In F1 I would compare his Brazil ride to Senna at Donington."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.