SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium -- Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says Max Verstappen reminds him of some F1's greatest drivers but fears the 18-year-old's aggressive style could lead to a big accident.
The Red Bull driver has incurred the wrath of his fellow drivers at the last three grands prix and has even been a subject on the agenda of a driver briefing after he was accused of moving under braking while defending from Kimi Raikkonen at the Hungarian Grand Prix. In Sunday's race at Spa-Francorchamps he angered both Ferrari drivers while battling for position but said he does not care what his rivals think.
Back in 2014 Wolff wanted to sign Verstappen to a Mercedes development driver contract, but was effectively outbid by Red Bull, which was able to offer him a full time race seat at Toro Rosso. The Mercedes boss says he still admires Verstappen, but worries that he could end up in a big accident in the future.
"He's maximum attack!" Wolff said."He's refreshing, for me. He's a young boy that I like a lot. He comes in here [to F1], no fear, no respect, puts the elbows out and it reminds me of the great ones.
"It reminds me of Lewis [Hamilton], it reminds me of Ayrton Senna and you can clearly see that some guys around here are starting to think twice how to overtake him. Until now all that has proven that he's on the right track.
"The FIA has not penalised it, the only thing that happened is he was given a hard time in some driver briefings, maybe next time he's going to have an even harder time in the next driver briefing. I just fear that it might end up in the wall heavily one day. As much as we like his [unpredictability] ... for me it's refreshing but it's dangerous."
Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene refused to apportion blame for the contact his drivers experienced with Verstappen at the first corner, but said he would talk about the incidents in the "proper place".
"I don't want to be involved in this kind of fight, accusing one or the other," he said on Sunday night. "The reality is that we had a very good start and an accident at the first corner and we were damaged for the rest of the race. This is the reality and if we have to talk we will talk in the proper place.
"The drivers have the driver briefing, [FIA race director] Charlie Whiting is there and we have another way to talk with the proper people if necessary."