Max Verstappen enjoyed one of the most dominant seasons in Formula
1 this year as he took 19 Grand Prix victories en route to his
third World Championship. The Dutchman was unchallenged for most of
the year to secure the title, leaving ex-F1 driver Timo Glock
impressed with the 26-year-old’s display. “I never thought he would
raise the bar like he did it this year,” Glock told
RacingNews365.com . “I mean, he was already very impressive last
year, but it seems like he found a way to raise the game in every
area again, the way he performed through the whole year. “Every
weekend he made the right decisions in terms of setup with his
engineer, in terms of decisions, in terms of strategy, he knows
exactly what to do to keep those tyres alive, he’s all the time on
top of the game in terms of strategy. “He doesn’t make any
mistakes, if it’s raining, or if it’s dry, he seems to be on top of
his game all the time. “The most important and impressive thing is
he didn’t make any mistakes this year.” Verstappen out-paced
team-mate Sergio Perez by a large margin as the Mexican struggled
behind the wheel of the RB19. Glock highlighted that Verstappen’s
natural ability to gel with the Red Bull team as well as rely on
his instincts sets him apart from Perez. “The difference is the
self-confidence he has,” he said. “He’s just in his zone, he knows
exactly if things don’t go right, what buttons he has to press to
get it in the right direction, the combination of the team, the
whole engineering group, together with him, they know exactly what
to do. “And if things are not 100 per cent, right, he is still
managing to pull out a magic lap in qualifying or keep things
together even if they had a problem with the brakes [in Austin].
“He is able to get around and drive around the problem and still be
quicker than everyone else. “If you have such a run, it gives you
so much self-confidence, which he has anyway. I think that it’s
another level now, it doesn’t matter what he does.” The difference
is the self-confidence he has Timo Glock Perez’s difficult stint
alongside Verstappen has left his future with the team in doubt
beyond the 2024 campaign when his contract will run out. With names
such as Daniel Ricciardo linked to the second Red Bull drive, Glock
believes that any driver would struggle to keep up with Verstappen
in the current Red Bull set-up. “He’s just too good and everyone
knows that. Anyone that would jump in next to him, knows that they
have a long path to go to understand the car, to understand what
kind of set-up they’re running. “Because I think that’s another
point – the car is pretty much developed in the direction of Max’s
driving style. And at the moment, I think everyone who jumps in
that car would have a difficult task.” When asked if he is
expecting Red Bull to dominate again next year, Glock said: “Red
Bull is not doing much in development, they already focusing on
2024. “I think Adrian Newey knows exactly with this group of people
what they’re doing in the background at the moment. “They will have
a strong package again next year, but it would be great to see a
fight, a proper fight for the title again next year.”
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