Max Verstappen still has much more progress to make when it comes to developing a Formula 1 car, believes the former Red Bull Racing Head of Engineering Guillaume Rocquelin.
Rocquelin, who currently works with the Red Bull Junior Team, oversaw the Milton Keynes-based squad’s engineering division from 2015 to 2022 and worked closely with Verstappen.
Prior to taking on the role, he was Sebastian Vettel’s race engineer at the team before Vettel opted to leave for Ferrari in 2015.
Vettel is widely known for his commitment to working with the engineering department, and enjoyed a dominant period with Red Bull in the early 2010s.
Verstappen now appears to be going through a similar stretch, having won back-to-back F1 titles in 2021 and 2022.
But speaking on Eurosport France’s ‘Les Fous du Volant’ podcast, Rocquelin believes that Verstappen still has room to improve when it comes to the technical side of his arsenal.
“I think Sebastian was a more complete driver than Max when he arrived with us,” said Rocquelin.
“At the professional level, technique, mediation…he was trained at the [Michael] Schumacher ‘school’, who was his idol.
“He asked a lot of questions, took a lot of notes and when he arrived with us he was very thorough. It’s no coincidence he won several titles. He was more prepared technically, mentally.
“I think Max maybe had more natural talent, that’s what he relied on the most. But Sebastian was the most complete.
“Max has always been a boss. He has enormous self-confidence, he knows what he wants and he is very direct.
“But I’ll be honest, Max is weak technically compared to other drivers we’ve worked with. I think he still has a lot of progress to make.
“He is a leader by his attitude, his results. But I think he can improve from a technical point of view and in the way of developing the car.”
Verstappen recently broke Vettel’s record (which was shared with Schumacher) of most wins in a season, taking his 14th of 2022 last time out in Mexico.
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