AlphaTauri F1 team principal Franz Tost says the first sight of Max Verstappen in action reminded him of Michael Schumacher.
Franz Tost has been a mentor to many top drivers over the years and has proven himself a master at the difficult task of giving young hopefuls the foundations they need to grow into Formula 1’s top stars.
Drivers Franz Tost has worked with include star drivers such as Ralf Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly.
He also said he first really noticed the talent of future seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher in a Formula Ford race at the rainy Salzburgring where he lapped the entire field.
And it was Max Verstappen’s similar performance that caught the eye of Franz Tost. The two then spent a full season as team principal and driver for Toro’s Rosso, and Verstappen was soon called up to Red Bull’s senior team.
Max Verstappen is now the world champion himself and is fighting to defend his title this season with an 80-point lead over his rivals.
“I first met Max with his father at the Nürburgring. At the time he was still driving a kart,” Tost recalled in an interview with F1-Insider.
“Next was the Norisring in F3. In the rain, he was running in his league as if he was the only one to find the dry line. He immediately gave me Michael Schumacher. reminded me
“We saw how immensely talented Max is. After all, when we entrusted Toro Rosso to a 17-year-old who didn’t even have a driver’s license, we received some criticism.”
“He also had his first training session at Suzuka, one of the most difficult circuits, but Max did it all in a daring way.”
“He never had a problem with the great speed of the F1 car and always had everything under control from the beginning.”
Max Verstappen caused controversy with his strong driving style, especially in the early part of the season.
But Franz Tost sees signs of maturity in Max Verstappen and thinks the best is yet to come.
“In the early races he was a little too aggressive at times,” said Franz Tost.
“Sometimes it led to crashes, like Romain Grosjean in Monaco, for example.”
“Today he is driving at a very high level. Despite this, we have yet to see the maximum from him.”
“Only Charles Leclerc can come close. Lewis Hamilton has already suffered too much from the damage of time.”
Category: F1 / Alpha Tauri / Max Verstappen
