Max Verstappen is now performing at the level required to compete for the Formula 1 championship going into 2019, Karun Chandhok believes.
Last year was arguably the most crucial in the Dutchman's career as a flurry of early-season incidents was replaced by a slightly less instinctive but much more consistent driver following a major disappointment in Monaco.
Indeed, had the championship started from Canada, Verstappen would have finished second to Lewis Hamilton with the former F1 driver drawing a key comparison between the pair.
"I think Max has now matured enough and he's ready to be world champion," Chandhok said at the Autosport International event recently.
"He's like Lewis was in 2008, he's ready to be fighting for the world championship and put together a season-long campaign."
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While Verstappen may now have the skills, the question now is if he'll have the car to challenge the Hamilton/Mercedes combination and that is dependent on one factor.
"It's whether Honda can deliver for Red Bull," Chandhok continued.
"There were signs of Honda starting to get it together if you look at the back end of last year, they introduced an engine upgrade for Toro Rosso in Suzuka that really seemed to make a step forward.
"We saw more evidence about it in Austin and know Red Bull are very optimistic about it. If they can deliver I think that's great for F1.
"F1 needs Honda to be successful because then it means Red Bull will be successful and we'll have three teams competing at the front. That's really important."
