F1 lacks excitement, Verstappen shaking things up - Stewart

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Sir Jackie Stewart believes Grand Prix racing currently lacks excitement and characters attractive to the public, but that Max Verstappen is helping shake things up.

The three-time world champion wasn't all that impressed with the 2016 season, but underlined that Verstappen's rise to prominence was probably the high point of the year.

"Other than Verstappen's breakthrough, it was not a very interesting season," Stewart told Swiss newspaper Blick.

"Verstappen reminds me of the first races of Mario Andretti, Jochen Rindt and Francois Cevert. They managed to shake things up."

While admirating of the accomplishments of Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel, Stewart insisted the sport should have more characters like the young Dutch prodigy.

"Lewis Hamilton is a kind of modern hero, Vettel is a quiet hero. And Raikkonen is perhaps even more popular than those two, although he barely says anything or perhaps he's popular precisely because of it!

"F1 is missing excitement, incidents, failures and accidents. Don't get me wrong, nobody wants to see a driver crash but you want some excitement. In my day that was the case, but unfortunately many of my rivals paid the ultimate price for that."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.