Max Verstappen’s father has admitted the 16-year-old might be fast-tracked into formula one with a Toro Rosso race seat.<\/p>\n
Recently, it was thought the young Dutchman, whose meteoric rise from karting to F3 this year caught the notice of the F1 world, had now signed a development deal with Mercedes.<\/p>\n
But that was only the case until last weekend, when Dr Helmut Marko sat down for new talks with Max and his well-known father Jos Verstappen on the sidelines of the latest European F3 race at the Red Bull Ring.<\/p>\n
Marko is reportedly offering Max a Toro Rosso race seat for 2015 in exchange for signing up with the Red Bull junior programme for a number of years.<\/p>\n
42-year-old Jos Verstappen, who last raced in F1 for Minardi in 2003, told the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf: “He (Marko) is a fan of Max’s and so for us that is nice.”<\/p>\n
Verstappen snr did not want to elaborate on his talks with Marko but acknowledged that a fast-tracked route into formula one might be “just one of the options”.<\/p>\n
Asked whether debuting in F1 at the tender age of 17 is too young, Verstappen insisted: “Definitely not for Max, he’s already quite mature.<\/p>\n
“We are in a good situation, but it’s also tricky — what is the right decision, and also how often is a train like this going to pass by?”<\/p>\n
Asked specifically about the Toro Rosso rumours, Verstappen snr admitted: “I hear it as well, of course, and it could well be that Helmut has this in mind for Max.<\/p>\n
“We know at least what Red Bull wants, but we really have not decided,” he added.<\/p>\n
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