Villeneuve: Red Bull is totally built around Verstappen

The 1997 F1 World Champion once warned Verstappen to calm down "before you kill someone" and then adamantly stated that Daniel Ricciardo was a better driver than his then-teammate.

While standing by his theory that Verstappen was not ready for the top flight, the once bitter critic admits he understands the need to seize on whatever chance opens up to race in F1.

Speaking to RacingNews365, Villeneuve conceded, "It's clear that if you are offered the opportunity to drive in F1, you take it with both hands."

"As a young driver you never know what a season in F2 will bring you, so you have to choose F1 when you have that option," he explained with reference to Verstappen being fast-tracked from F3 to F1 with Toro Rosso when he was only 17.

The Canadian continued, "Max also made the right choice by opting for Red Bull. That team suits him very well because they build the team around one driver. If he was driving for another team, I don't think he would be around for so long."

"Max has done well in recent years, but let's face it, he is no longer the driver he was three years ago. In the form that he is in now, he could compete for the title with a good car. I think he is ready, that might not happen this season but in the coming years ."

"Drivers who enter F1 must be ready to compete immediately. That means they must learn during the preliminary phase [of their careers]. How Verstappen is now is how he should have been when he made his debut in F1, but he got the chance to get in much younger and with a lot less experience. I can understand that you take that opportunity because you simply cannot refuse it."

“His father Jos played that very cleverly. He has clearly shown Red Bull that Max is very important to the team. That worked out well in the end and as a result, the team is now completely built around Max."

"Max and Jos would never have managed that with another team," reckoned Villeneuve.

History shows that Red Bull's most successful period from 2010 to the end of 2013, in which they won eight titles, was when the team was built around Sebastian Vettel, at the time also a precocious young gun rattling the establishment.