Verstappen: Now I know what awaits me

Red Bull star Max Verstappen has claimed that he is much more relaxed in his preparations for the upcoming 2018 Formula One campaign than in previous seasons as he now knows what 'awaits' him, and admitted that he will know early in the season whether his car is good enough to compete.

The Dutchman already has three Grand Prix victories at the age of just 20, and is believed by many figures in the sport to be a future F1 world champion.

The testing for the upcoming F1 season is set to take place at the end of this month in Barcelona, and Verstappen reckons he will have a good idea what his new car is capable of after getting behind the wheel for the first time on the track.

"Normally you get an impression (of the car) at the very beginning of the year, but this is not the goal. The most important thing is to get reliability in testing so you can determine the driving characteristics of the new car," Verstappen told is Italy's Corriere dello Sport.

"But you can understand if a car is good or not already in the first day of testing."

The Dutchman has been involved in F1 at the highest level since 2015 with Toro Rosso and then Red Bull, and admitted that the experience of previous seasons has made him 'more relaxed' in his preparations this time around.

"I'm a little more relaxed than my first seasons in formula one, because now I know what awaits me. But physically it's difficult, so I still have to train very well," he added.