Max Verstappen compared to Ayrton Senna for his ‘will to absolutely win’

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Max Verstappen has been likened to Ayrton Senna for his “will to absolutely win” as the title race with Lewis Hamilton in Formula 1 rumbles on.

The Dutch race is preparing for the Turkish Grand Prix this weekend in Istanbul with just a two-point deficit to the world champion in the driver standings.

And Franz Tost, team principal at Scuderia AlphaTauri, believes the 24-year-old has shades of the legendary Brazilian racer.

“I think he is most likely to go in the direction of Senna in terms of his willingness to take risks and the will to absolutely win,” Tost, who worked with Verstappen at Toro Rosso, now AlphaTauri, in 2015 and early 2016, told Sport1.de.

“I’ve known him since karting days. He has absolute car control. He has zero speed problems and is always in control.

“He has an extreme feeling for the car and the tyres and can do that. In addition, his father Jos gave him an extremely good basic education. After that, nothing could surprise him anymore.”

And Tost adds that Verstappen’s Dutch Grand Prix win at Zandvoort has justified his mental fortitude to hang with Hamilton.

“The answer was his home race at Zandvoort,” he added. “If you can dominate in front of the frenetic fans in your home country with all the pressure of expectation, you no longer have to fear anything.

“That impressed me so much. Max cannot be thrown off balance. He focuses from race to race. He wants to win every race. If a collision is to be avoided, then he will. If not, then not. Then he just crashes. And that’s that!”