Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane has hailed the impact of Max Verstappen on the young drivers at the squad, labelling him as a “benchmark” example.

Verstappen has long been part of the Red Bull set-up, enjoying his rookie campaign in the sister team in 2015 before stepping up to the Milton Keynes-based squad shortly after the start of the 2016 season.

Since then, more drivers have passed through the Racing Bulls team with their own hope of following Verstappen’s path of receiving a promotion to the front-running squad.

Speaking exclusively to RacingNews365, Permane explained that Red Bull’s young prospects can use Verstappen as motivation to improve their own form.

“He [Verstappen] is obviously a big positive for the whole organisation, and also for the young drivers,” he said.

“They look at him and they want to be him. I find it quite useful. I only know Max socially, and I see him in here or sometimes outside, and we will stop and have a chat.

“We’ve both been in the paddock a long time, but it’s great for me to be able to say to them, ‘Look what Max does. Look how calm Max is all the time. Look how he prepares well. Look how he talks with his engineer.’

“You can’t pick any holes in Max. As you say, he’s almost perfect. Let’s not say he’s perfect, because I don’t know if he is or not! But let’s say he’s almost the perfect driver. 

“So it’s great for us to have that benchmark, if you like.”

Currently occupying the seats at Racing Bulls are Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, who have both enjoyed a strong start to the year with frequent point-scoring finishes.

Permane stated that Verstappen’s teachings to the drivers at the sister team extend beyond his ability behind the wheel of a race car.

“When you see Max doing media stuff, for example, he’s always got a smile on his face, he’s always happy, he’s a dream for the PR people,” he said.

“There’s no doubt it’s a difficult thing for drivers, it takes them away from the performance, from the office, but it’s a part of F1.

“One thing I say to them is, ‘Look at Max, you need to put a smile on your face, you go and do this, it’s very important to the team, it’s very important to partners.’

“If you wanted one example, you never see Max or hear Max complaining about any of that.

“So it’s very useful for me personally to have him – not even measured on track – to use all the other stuff he does to help our guys.”