Max Verstappen has a bit more speed, but he has yet to match the experience and driving maturity of Lewis Hamilton according to Sir Jackie Stewart, former Formula 1 World Champion.

“I think Mercedes have the best package at the moment, but Red Bull have shown they are pushing hard. I think it will be between the two.

“Verstappen I think is the quicker driver now, but he’s still a bit in the puppy phase,” he tells UK’s ‘Talk Sport’ radio station.

“At the same time, Lewis might be coming to the end of his Formula 1 career, so I think the future has more in store for Verstappen. But don’t rule out Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton is an extremely good driver,”

Stewart predicts a glorious future for the Dutchman, but now it’s time to talk about the present, most recently the latest clash between the two drivers at the Monza circuit last Sunday.

“It was another experience of two drivers who are a bit too anxious to keep chasing,” he says. “It’s a circuit where there is an opportunity to overtake in one or two other areas. Like at Silverstone when there was a collision between the two drivers, I think it could have been avoided in both cases.”

The accident could have had far worse consequences than it did: “It was too early to push like that and anyone could have gone airborne, ended up upside down, it could have been a very serious situation”.

For Jackie, the blame for the accident was shared and the two world championship contenders must accept it and move on.

“It would have been very difficult to say who would have been at fault. The FIA has made a decision, but it’s such a weak penalty… three positions in the next Grand Prix. three positions in the next Grand Prix. It’s a very small penalty,” he confesses.

“I think both drivers have to accept their responsibility for the accident. It was in a corner that everybody knows, because that corner was not there in my day. It was put in because the circuit was so fast and dangerous that they had to slow it down. That’s what that corner did,” he concludes.