22 May 2023 , 16:46
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Max Verstappen spoke from his own experience as he warned Charles Leclerc to wait patiently for the chance to summit the Formula 1 world.
Verstappen has already won two titles and looks well-placed to make it a third this year. And with his Red Bull team so dominant, he way well be able to add many more trophies to his already impressive collection in the coming years.
Leclerc was his main title rival last season, though the Monegasque's challenge faltered as his own mistakes compounded a series of reliability woes and strategy blunders suffered by his Ferrari team. This season looks set to be even tougher, with the Italian team some way off the pace of the Red Bulls.
Though they are the same age, Verstappen has more F1 experience having made his debut in 2015 as a fresh-faced 17-year-old and waited many years before he was ready to challenge for the top prize. Speaking from that experience, the Dutchman warned that patience is needed for any young driver with title ambitions.
"I think I learned a lot of patience over the years," said the Red Bull racer. "I always believed in the project because of how I saw people working and how motivated they were to really get back on top. You can't force it and say, 'We were the third-best team at some point and it's like we need to win now'.
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"It is a process. You get a few people, maybe different positions, get a good group together. And at some point, it just clicks from one year to the next and you really make a jump forward. After that you say: 'Yeah, I saw it coming blah blah blah... [but] you don't know.
Max Verstappen is on an F1 title streak he has no intention of ending soon (Getty Images)"I did trust the process we were in because I did feel that we were heading into something. But we had a few years with engine deals falling apart, and it was just a bit of a struggle. When Honda came along it was a bit of a work in progress, but then after a year, we were very competitive.
"Sometimes we had quite a decent package but then you lack a bit of top speed and that made it very hard to really show the true potential. It's not easy, but sometimes you just have to be [patient]."
If Verstappen has his own way, then Leclerc will be waiting for a long time before he will taste the success he craves. After winning the Miami Grand Prix earlier this month to extend his lead at the top of the championship, he declared: "I always feel unbeatable," and vowed to "be as close as possible to perfection".