Palmer is certain: "Verstappen will be an F1 champion"

Become a Champion in Formula 1

Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer looks back on last season in his new column for the BBC and the Brit is convinced of Verstappen. "Verstappen will be an F1 champion in the future. He just needs the tools to be able to do it, and arguably he needs Hamilton to retire for that chance."

In other words, apart from the material, Hamilton is the biggest obstacle on Verstappen's road to winning his first title, but the British seven-time champion is, of course, a lot older and so his retirement is slowly approaching. This is not to say that Verstappen cannot win it from him, but without a Hamilton competitor it will, of course, be a lot easier.

"Once again the Dutchman has driven an exemplary season, taking two wins and only making one major mistake all year - a 360-degree spin in Turkey costing him a chance of victory. It was the only race he completed outside the podium places all season."

Mercedes split

"In fact, Verstappen was very unlucky not to finish second in the standings, splitting the drivers in the faster Mercedes. He had too many mechanical retirements, which cost him a huge haul of points. For the second season in a row, he completely took apart his team-mate, in this case Alex Albon."

What Palmer means is that he has completely out shadowed Albon. "Albon failed to get within 0.3 seconds of Verstappen in any qualifying session in 2020. Red Bull were effectively a one-car team, with Verstappen demonstrating what a world-beating driver can do", which Palmer uses to support his statement that sooner or later the Dutchman will become a champion.