Young ace ready to race

LONDON — The 16-year-old boy who is poised to become the youngest driver in Formula 1 history by nearly two years says that riding a bicycle through a major city presents a greater danger than taking the wheel of an F1 car.

Max Verstappen, who has signed for Toro Rosso, the Red Bull junior team, will not be allowed to drive on the road in his native Netherlands without the supervision of an instructor when he makes his debut in the sport aged 17 next year. If Verstappen were to finish on the podium, he would also legally not be permitted to drink the celebratory champagne.

The Dutch teenager has been setting the world alight in Formula Three this year, winning eight races, but his call-up at such a young age is likely to be a major source of debate when F1 returns from its summer break in Belgium this weekend.

Verstappen, however, exuded confidence after the announcement that he was to replace Jean-Eric Vergne in 2015. “Ever since I was seven years old, Formula 1 has been my career goal,” he told the BBC.

“I think the biggest step I had was karting to Formula Three. I think Formula Three to F1 will be a smaller step. I’m not that worried about it. The cars are really safe. I think it’s more dangerous to bike through a big city than race in an F1 car.”

The 16-year-old is the son of Jos Verstappen, 42, who raced in 106 Grands Prix from 1994 to 2003, including as team-mate to Michael Schumacher at Benetton when the German won the world championship.

However, many of the sport’s elder statesmen are likely to be nervous at Verstappen making his debut so young, particularly given repeated criticism of some young drivers who have shown themselves to be reckless in their approach.

In Verstappen’s favour is the current generation of F1 cars, which do not demand the same physical strength required when Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton first entered the sport in the 2000s.

Daniil Kyvat, a skinny figure who will partner Verstappen next year, has also enjoyed an incredible start to his F1 career in 2014, despite concerns that the 19-year-old was too young. Like Kvyat, Verstappen will be following in the footsteps of four-time champion Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo, the surprise package of this year, in moving through Red Bull’s junior programme.

Franz Tost, the Toro Rosso team principal who is respected as a hard taskmaster for young drivers, said that Verstappen had the “mental strength” to prosper in F1. “We consider Max to be one of the most skilled young drivers of the new generation,” he said. THE DAILY TELEGRAPH