Alpha Tauri team boss Franz Tost has sent out a warning to the rest of the grid saying that Formula One is yet to see the true potential of Max Verstappen.

The reigning World Champion started his F1 journey with Toro Rosso, which was rebranded as Alpha Tauri a few seasons ago. Verstappen quickly made the jump to the Red Bull main team and has impressed one and all with his driving skills.

Last season, he climbed to the top of the F1 pinnacle as he won the 2021 season with a thrilling finish at the Abu Dhabi GP, edging past Lewis Hamilton to the crown.

Speaking to German publication F1-Insider, as quoted by racingnews365, Tost said that they had to face early criticism for giving the 24-year-old a seat back when he was 17.

The Alpha Tauri boss went on to say that Verstappen never had problems dealing with the high speed of a F1 car and had everything under control from the get-go.

Tost went on to warn the rest of the F1 grid by saying that the best is yet to come from Verstappen and the only person who has been able to keep up with the Red Bull driver is Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

“We had to take criticism when we entrusted the Toro Rosso to him [Verstappen] at the age of 17 someone who didn’t even have a driver’s licence!”

“He also completed his first practice session in Suzuka (in 2014, days after his 17th birthday), one of the most difficult tracks of all, but he handled everything confidently. He never had any problems with the high speed of a Formula 1 car, and always had everything under control from the start.”

“In his first races he was sometimes a little too aggressive, and this sometimes led to a crash, for example in Monaco [in 2015] with Romain Grosjean. But today he drives at an extremely high level we still haven’t seen the maximum from him yet!”

“Only Charles Leclerc can come close to keeping up the ravages of time have already gnawed at Lewis Hamilton,” said Tost.

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