Timo Glock has paid tribute to Max Verstappen and said he’s changing the face of F1, as the Dutchman could wrap up the 2022 World Championship at the Singapore Grand Prix.
The former F1 and DTM driver added he was impressed at how Verstappen and other young drivers have become competitive so quickly against F1’s old guard.
“Max coming into Formula 1, it feels like he turning F1 upside down,” Glock told the Beyond the Grid podcast.
“The way he dominates, how he grew up being so competitive against Lewis [Hamilton] – Lewis being the older guy as well as Alonso being so experienced, still having the hunger being so motivated to beat the young guys it is just really interesting to see.”
Going full circle
Glock‘s most famous moment in F1 came at the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix where he was overtaken by Lewis Hamilton on the last corner of the season to hand the Brit his first of seven world championships.
The 2007 GP2 champion spent five full seasons in F1 with the title-defining moment coming in Glock‘s first season with Toyota.
Before that, he made a point-scoring debut with Jordan in the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix and had three more appearances with the team that year.
He also had three seasons at Virgin Racing (who became Marussia), and managed three podiums and 51 points across 91 races.
He was featured on Top Gear at the Monaco Grand Prix, where he was mistaken as Tim O’Glock by presenter Richard Hammond.
Glock‘s praise for Verstappen comes after the Dutchman beat Hamilton to the 2021 world title in a controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the pair linked by Hamilton‘s first championship and his last failed charge.
However, Glock added it wasn’t just Verstappen he’s caught his eye.
“The talents we have on the grid, looking back to Charles [Leclerc], looking back on George [Russell], how they went through the junior categories,” Glock said.
“It’s very interesting to see the young guys, when they come up next to the big hero, Lewis Hamilton, how they learn from them and how they very quickly understand what to do and adapt to it and take it on board and do it themselves.
“I was asking George ‘what is the difference when you come from a small team like Williams, being at the back of the grid, to a top team like Mercedes against the big man Lewis Hamilton?’
“He was saying the way he is going into weekends super-focused, being so precise, understanding the racing, the strategies, how he has to handle his tyres and so on.”
