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Hans-Joachim Stuck, a 71-year-old German racer who had taken part in many formats of modern racing including Formula One, had been the latest to raise voice in favour of the flying Dutchman, Max Verstappen, who appears to be at the top of his form at this standpoint.
Coming into the halfway of the F1 season, Verstappen has had a solid lead of 80 points over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Besides, as whispers are growing that Ferrari construction team might be mulling an overhaul following a dismal Hungarian GP where Leclerc had to digest a disappointing defeat from No 1 position again due to Ferrari F1 Team’s indecision in terms of strategy, it appears that the 24-year-old Dutch has been well en-route to seize a Formula One double this season.
As Summer break sets in on F1, after an excruciating leg of 13 races, Verstappen had totalled 258 points with 8 victories and 10 podium finishes, while Leclerc had had a disheartening 178 points with 3 wins and 5 podiums.
Max Verstappen is above everyone at this point, says former German racer
Meanwhile, speaking in an interview with Eurosport.de, while being asked about his opinion on Ferrari boss Binotto’s position in the team, Stuck said, “I don't know how much longer Ferrari will give him credit.
The oversteer did not come from him. I can imagine that he was instructed by the team to claim that he made a mistake, even though there was a problem with the car. I wouldn't rule that out”. Besides, expressing an out and out optimism over Verstappen, the 71-year-old former German racer said, “Verstappen is above everyone else at the moment.
Right behind him are drivers like Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Carlos Sainz or George Russell, who can definitely take on him." With nine races to go, the big task for Ferrari is to close the gap on Red Bull. "If they want to make it happen, the mistakes they made this year must not happen again. It's a shame how many points they've thrown away already this season”.