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Max Verstappen's former teammate Carlos Sainz has admitted that he always understood the kind of hype the Red Bull driver had. Even from his karting days, Verstappen was one driver whose name was spoken of quite prominently. When the Dutchman made his debut in F3, even then eyes were on him and many expected him to go on and do great things in his career.
When questioned about the hype surrounding Verstappen in the early years, Sainz admitted that this was something the Dutch driver never lacked in his career.
Talking about the Red Bull driver to the media, including PlanetF1.com, the Spaniard insisted that he understood why there was so much buzz around the young driver, especially if we see the accolades.
“I think if there was something that Max never lacked, it was hype around him. I think he had the hype even well before his debut in Formula 1. When he was in F3 he had already a lot of following. I think his first year in F1, came in and stormed F1 and had a lot of following behind him," Sainz said.
“So it doesn’t surprise me at all because I’ve always, since I debuted with him in 2015, which is now eight years ago, I’ve always seen that hype and I’ve always understood it because obviously he’s a special talent and someone that is performing really, really well since the beginning,” he added.
Pierre Gasly echoes Carlos Sainz's sentiments about Max Verstappen
Pierre Gasly echoed the sentiments shared by Carlos Sainz and stated that even in karting, Max Verstappen was one name that was very prominent in racing.
Even when Gasley raced against Verstappen when he was young, the Dutch driver's relationship with his dad Jos caught the eye of a lot of people.
“It was clear already from the very young age, when we raced in karting, the hype around him was already very different to any other drivers. It was clear going up the ranks that there was more attention, more focus, driven by the name, the performances, all the hype around Jos’ and Max’s relationship, so it was no surprise the way that he came to Formula 1 and performed and the switch to Red Bull just amplified everything that followed," Gasleu said.
Verstappen did have a lot of hype surrounding him when he debuted in F1 as a teenager. In retrospect, it was justified as well as the Dutchman has been a sensation in F1 unlike anyone else.
