Max Verstappen’s work ethic gives him an edge over rivals: David Coulthard | Racing News – Times of India

MUMBAI: Max Verstappen has won 25 of the 44 races in the last two seasons on way to clinching back-to-back drivers’ championships. And a winning start to the 2023 campaign with a dominant display at the Bahrain Grand Prix makes David Coulthard believe that he can land a hat-trick of titles.
The Red Bull driver won the first race by more than 11 seconds over his teammate Sergio Perez and his competitors struggled to keep pace. While Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc pulled out with a technical issue, his teammate Carlos Sainz Jr (fourth) and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (fifth) finished almost 50 seconds behind the Dutchman.
While Coulthard thinks there will be “multiple winners” this season, he told TOI: “I think that start to the year is a very ominous sign for Max getting a third world title.”
He added: “He has time and again shown that he’s got a fighting spirit. His work ethic on the track is something that has given him, along with natural talent, an edge over a lot of his competitors. Perez is very talented but right now he lacks that half a tenth that Max has. There are always going to be exceptional drivers that stand out, and right now Max is that person.”
The former McLaren and Red Bull driver was speaking at an interaction organised on the eve of the Red Bull Showrun which will be held on Sunday morning at Bandra Bandstand.

Coulthard will drive the RB7 car with which Sebastian Vettel won the 2011 world title fetching Red Bull the constructors’ championship.
So, what traits of Verstappen he likes the most?
“Having seen Max grow up, as I raced against his father Jos, who was very clear on the discipline that is required, he has been provided with the perfect environment to understand the hard world of racing. Max is a hard racer and won’t give a millimetre on track to his competitors but off track, I find him grounded and straightforward,” said Coulthard, who will be doing his third Showrun in India.
He had previously come to Mumbai (2009) and Hyderabad (2015). Coulthard feels that Mercedes and Ferrari will have to buckle up or see Red Bull speed away from them.
“Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin… have the same opportunity to develop their packages as Red Bull. What we saw in Bahrain is that during qualifying it’s quite close, but over the race distance, Red Bull are very good and they were able to manage the tyres well,” said the Briton, who will soon turn 52 but doesn’t miss out on the opportunity to jump behind the wheels of an F1 car.
Last season, Mercedes and Ferrari showed glimpses of their potential, but they weren’t consistent enough to match Red Bull. The differences at Mercedes were out in the open in Bahrain with seven-time champion Hamilton stating that the team “didn’t listen” to him over the development of the car for the 2023 season.
While Coulthard admires the “openness” in the Mercedes camp, he feels everything is not well in the team.
“You cannot say everything is fine if you are finishing 30 seconds or more behind the leader. Everything is not fine, they have an issue, they need to identify where that issue is and find a solution,” said Coulthard.
At Ferrari, their fans have seen it all. Technical issues, strategic blunders and driver errors saw their challenge fizzle out after a promising start last season.
Coulthard analysed: “This is all part of running a winning team and a winning team makes less mistakes. If you look at the (Michael Schumacher era, they were relentless. They weren’t perfect, nobody is. That’s what Ferrari must do.”