Interview: Glock salutes Verstappen for 'raising the game' in F1

Max Verstappen enjoyed one of the most dominant seasons in Formula 1 this year as he took 19 Grand Prix victories en route to his third World Championship.

The Dutchman was unchallenged for most of the year to secure the title, leaving ex-F1 driver Timo Glock impressed with the 26-year-old's display.

“I never thought he would raise the bar like he did it this year,” Glock told RacingNews365.com.

“I mean, he was already very impressive last year, but it seems like he found a way to raise the game in every area again, the way he performed through the whole year.

“Every weekend he made the right decisions in terms of setup with his engineer, in terms of decisions, in terms of strategy, he knows exactly what to do to keep those tyres alive, he's all the time on top of the game in terms of strategy.

“He doesn't make any mistakes, if it's raining, or if it's dry, he seems to be on top of his game all the time.

“The most important and impressive thing is he didn't make any mistakes this year.”

Verstappen out-paced team-mate Sergio Perez by a large margin as the Mexican struggled behind the wheel of the RB19.

Glock highlighted that Verstappen's natural ability to gel with the Red Bull team as well as rely on his instincts sets him apart from Perez.

“The difference is the self-confidence he has,” he said. “He's just in his zone, he knows exactly if things don’t go right, what buttons he has to press to get it in the right direction, the combination of the team, the whole engineering group, together with him, they know exactly what to do.

“And if things are not 100 per cent, right, he is still managing to pull out a magic lap in qualifying or keep things together even if they had a problem with the brakes [in Austin].

“He is able to get around and drive around the problem and still be quicker than everyone else.

“If you have such a run, it gives you so much self-confidence, which he has anyway. I think that it's another level now, it doesn't matter what he does.”

Perez's difficult stint alongside Verstappen has left his future with the team in doubt beyond the 2024 campaign when his contract will run out.

With names such as Daniel Ricciardo linked to the second Red Bull drive, Glock believes that any driver would struggle to keep up with Verstappen in the current Red Bull set-up.

“He's just too good and everyone knows that. Anyone that would jump in next to him, knows that they have a long path to go to understand the car, to understand what kind of set-up they're running.

“Because I think that's another point - the car is pretty much developed in the direction of Max’s driving style. And at the moment, I think everyone who jumps in that car would have a difficult task.”

When asked if he is expecting Red Bull to dominate again next year, Glock said: “Red Bull is not doing much in development, they already focusing on 2024.

“I think Adrian Newey knows exactly with this group of people what they're doing in the background at the moment.

“They will have a strong package again next year, but it would be great to see a fight, a proper fight for the title again next year.”