Max Verstappen says he has improved in every area over the course of what is only his second season in single-seaters.
The Dutchman currently lies 10th in the World Championship,
“I think in every area I improved,” he said on Thursday. “Especially after only one season in lower categories, when you make the jump to F1, I think the raw speed is there, it’s just you need to develop in all the other areas - and I think I coped with that pretty well.
“So I’m pretty happy with how the whole season went in general. I improved in everything. Qualifying I think especially, that’s all going well now but all the areas, especially with the help of the team, it’s going much better and I expected it to be like that because I am still very young and I have a lot of things to learn.”
Verstappen says he enjoys life at Toro Rosso.
“I think the strong point is the atmosphere in the team and maybe it’s something Italian. I enjoyed it a lot also in go-karting and I still have it here as well. It’s like a big family and I think when a driver feels well in a team, also the performance goes better so definitely enjoying it.
“Also the team is still very young and they are very ambitious and I think already compared to last year the car is a big step forward, so I’m very happy with that, to be able to drive such a good car. So yeah, the weak point, I don’t really have a big weak point in the team. It’s just that we’re missing a little bit of top speed, maybe that’s the only thing.”
Asked if he was in a hurry to get into a top team, he said: “I’m never in a hurry but, of course, if you have two fourth places you’re very close to the podium, you want to be on it. But I still have a lot of things to learn and I’m pretty happy where I am right now - but hopefully in a couple of years I can fight for victories. I think everybody wants that.”
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