Giedo van der Garde believes that Max Verstappen has made significant progress in his professional development in the 2017 season.
"Hamilton is of course a really good driver, as we saw again this year, but I think Max can handle him,"
“It has been a tough year for him mentally, but he also knows he can do nothing about it," van der Garde agreed.
"It was a pity that the Red Bull was not competitive enough and we could not really see what Max had.
Van der Garde thinks that Verstappen is ready to fight for the championship title with Lewis Hamilton.
"I think Max grew a lot as a person, because he had to deal with all those disappointments on the track," he said.
"During the second half of the season, Max had a good car again," he continued. "He started winning again from scratch. Then you, of course, enjoy yourself as a Dutch person."
"I think he also grew considerably as a driver," van der Garde said. "In qualifying he made an important extra step."
"Max will definitely win a few more wins next year. And who knows he might be in such a good flow and then it will all go so well that he can compete for the championship."
