Max Verstappen cruised to victory in Japan, facing no threats on the track. The Dutch driver briefly encountered his closest rival, Lando Norris, in the pit lane, but the Briton was given no opportunity to overtake Verstappen. The Red Bull driver once again demonstrated why he is the current world champion, according to former team boss Franz Tost.
Franz Tost served as the team boss of Red Bull’s sister team for many years before retiring from Formula 1 at the end of 2023. However, the Austrian remains well-informed about all happenings in the premier class and was highly impressed by Max Verstappen’s driving skills in Japan. “After the pit stop, when he stayed on his line, he was essentially saying: ‘I am Max and I am the world champion, yes? You stay behind me.’ Truly incredible,” Tost praised Verstappen in the Inside Line F1 podcast.
The Praise from Tost
The Austrian had already seen the Dutchman make a strong impression a day earlier when Verstappen secured pole position with a masterful fast lap. “I believe his qualifying lap was one of the best qualifying laps I have ever seen. He drove at the limit the entire time and extracted the maximum from the car. And then he drove very smartly in the race.”
“Verstappen knew where he needed to conserve his tires. He knew where he could push to the limit to prevent the McLarens from getting within a second of him and using the DRS,” Tost continued his praise. “All these things he did during the race were simply fantastic.”
