Prost already welcomes Verstappen: “He's on his way to a 4th title”

Tie in number of poles

The two pole positions won by Max Verstappen at the start of the 2024 season it brought the Dutch Red Bull driver to 5th place in the all-time ranking of the fastest drivers in qualifying, overtaking Jim Clark and Alain Prost. The Professor and Super Max could soon be paired in a much more prestigious ranking: that of world championship titles. The Frenchman, in fact, is “waiting” for the Red Bull champion at four World Championships, a table at which Sebastian Vettel also sits.

The evaluation of the 'Professor'

Prost himself takes it almost for granted: “For drivers, then as now, the head is as important as a heavy right foot – he told ServusTV – to become world champion you need to combine speed with consistency. It's not enough to win a few races. Once you win your first title, the philosophy changes. You've achieved a great goal in your career, now you need a new goal. This is particularly important in a situation like Verstappen's today. He now has three titles and has won many races in 2023. You must be able to constantly motivate yourself. I don't recognize a problem with Max from this point of view. The way she leads her life, her attitude, his character, he always seems fresh and hungry for success. When you have many victories, some people expect you to be successful again. Others expect you to stumble because they want to see other drivers win or want something new. I think Max is very aware of his situation. After all, when you succeed, you have to take into account that many want to see you fail. It's human nature that everyone doesn't love you. I see a Verstappen as motivated on his way to a fourth title as he was a year ago on his way to a third“.

The character to be champions

Talent and personality. For Prost there are also the possibilities of combining the qualities of a champion with those of a good guy: “I have to disappoint people, but I think it's possible. Of course you have to be selfish and have a strong character to succeed in Formula 1, but one must not exclude the other“.

With the exception of Verstappen, the 'Professor' also indicated other drivers who have the qualities of champions, albeit still behind the Dutchman: “Max comes before everyone else not only for his exceptional talent, with which he manages to get more out of the car than his teammates, or for his great control of the car. It is also a question of character and mental attitude – he concluded – some of the other young drivers demonstrated fabulous speed: Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri. Charles has already won races, Lando and Oscar undoubtedly have what it takes to do so. But it's one thing to win and another to consistently ride at the highest level for an entire season and be able to fight for a title. Even for me today it is impossible to say how they would deal with this pressure if they found themselves in this situation.”