Max Verstappen has "steely grit" of a world champion

Red Bull

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Verstappen has "steely grit" of a world champion

Verstappen lies second in the championship standings behind Hamilton

Ewan Gale

Saturday 14 August 2021 18:01

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Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey has hailed Max Verstappen's "steely grit" as the Dutchman aims to join the list of F1 world champions.

Verstappen trails Lewis Hamilton after the first 11 races of the season despite having stretched out a 33 point advantage after nine events.

Red Bull was aggrieved when Verstappen retired through a collision with Hamilton at Silverstone before his Hungarian Grand Prix was severely hampered by damage caused in a turn one meleé triggered by Valtteri Bottas.

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Pointing to the qualities that could make his driver a champion, Newey told the Talking Bull podcast: "He has that same steely grit that any champion needs to dig in and keep going in the face of adversity.

"If things go wrong on a particular weekend then put that behind you and look forward to the next one.

"I think his driving ability is superb, his ability to live with what we call a neutral car, in other words, a car that where the rear end moves around a little bit, is exceptional and he has matured into a great racer.

"He has really not made any mistakes this year. If you include Hungary which was kind of semi-effectively a DNF then he has had three DNFs through no fault of his own.

"The Baku tyre blow out, the Silverstone and Hungary but he has kept his head, he has bounced back from all of those and his natural speed is very clear."

Verstappen feedback impresses Newey

Red Bull has added consistent upgrades in the race to beat Mercedes to the title this year, adding an emphasis on driver feedback to ensure the car is performing as desired.

On Verstappen's engineering knowledge, Newey added: "His feedback is also very good.

"I have seen it all in terms driver feedback, you get some drivers that talk endlessly and start with the first stage of entry at turn one and finishing with the last stage of exit of turn 20.

"Certainly in my case, I have fallen asleep by then and lost concentration. Max has got a very good balance of concentrating on the key parts he needs to make the car go faster."