Verstappen 'can win' in Monaco, says dad

Max Verstappen "can win" the upcoming Grand Prix in Monaco and finally get his first victory of the 2018 Formula One campaign after securing a confidence-boosting podium finish in the Spanish Grand Prix at the weekend, according to his father Jos Verstappen.

Verstappen has come in for criticism in the first portion of the 2018 season after getting himself involved in a number of on-track collisions - most recently with his own team-mate Daniel Ricciardo at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.

There has been no shortage of negative comments being volleyed at the young Dutchman, but he put all the criticism behind him to claim a podium finish at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona on Sunday.

His father, a former F1 driver, reckons his son now has the confidence to go on and win in Monte Carlo.

"I understand that everyone likes the podium, but we want more," Jos Verstappen told Ziggo Sport.

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Jos thinks that the key to Max winning races comes down to qualifying, as if he can get in the front row he will take some stopping.

"That's the problem. Because if he's on the first row, Max can win every time. Because of these front wings it's just incredibly hard to overtake."

Many commenters have suggested that Max needs to calm down and be less aggressive on the track as that is what is holding him back, but his dad thinks his son will continue to put the foot down when he deems necessary.

"We just want to win. That's why I'm looking at Monaco." Jos continued.

"The engine is not that important - the car is important there. And in the slow corners, Red Bull is really the best."

Max is currently sixth in the F1 driver rankings behind Ricciardo, Kimi Raikkonen, Valtteri Bottas, Sebastian Vettel, and Lewis Hamilton.