JANUARY 13, 2017

Verstappen absolutely ready for 2017 title

Max Verstappen says he is "absolutely" ready to win the world championship in 2017.

Max Verstappen says he is absolutely ready to win the world championship in 2017.

There are many who believe that, along with the radically different rules for this year, Red Bull has a real chance of taking the fight to Mercedes in 2017.

Verstappen is clearly a star of the future, but others think it is actually Daniel Ricciardo who is the Red Bull driver most ready to immediately win a title.

But Verstappen, 19, said: "Am I ready for the championship? Absolutely.

"I have been ready since my first race in 2015 with Toro Rosso," he told the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

Since then, Verstappen has climbed from the midfield to the front, and in 2017 will contest his first full season with Red Bull's premier team.

"If you are in the best car, racing is so much easier," he says.

"If I had already had a good car, I know I would have scored victories for sure," Verstappen, who actually won the Spanish grand prix last May, added.

"I have spent the past two seasons learning so much. From crashes to mistakes to wrong pitstops.

"But if you are in the best car, many of those problems go away and everything is a lot easier."

(GMM)