Can F1's newest force of nature be stopped?

It's not every day that Formula 1's reigning world champion describes a rival driver as "a force to be reckoned with", but that's exactly the phrase Lewis Hamilton used to describe Max Verstappen after the British Grand Prix.

F1 is becoming used to star performances by the Dutch teenager, and here was yet another to add to the growing catalogue - putting what remains a lesser car in the Red Bull-Renault RB12 in between the two dominant Mercedes, and showing Nico Rosberg the way for a long spell in wheel-to-wheel battle.

Rosberg has not generally shown himself to be among F1's absolute elite in this regard, but he is a veteran of 195 grands prix and was driving a car Hamilton said Mercedes estimated to be 0.5 seconds per lap faster than the Red Bull in race trim.

The wet weather in the early part of the British GP certainly nullified some of that inherent advantage, but Verstappen actually did his damage as the track dried out - using the uncertainty created by changeable conditions to pounce on a Rosberg error at Becketts and pass around his outside.

Verstappen's in- and out-laps were significantly better than Rosberg's when they pitted for slicks and, as the circuit finally allowed Rosberg to unleash the full extent of the W07's advantage, Verstappen made him work until lap 39 of 52 before finally relinquishing (at least until after the race) second place.

Verstappen has only started 29 grands prix in his career so far, but already he is building a repertoire of superlative racing moments in F1. Hanging on around the outside of Felipe Nasr's Sauber through Blanchimont at Spa last year; a Kimi Raikkonen-inspired pass of Sergio Perez round the outside of Interlagos's 'Senna S' a few races later; and some brilliant battling with the Ferraris of Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel at Austin.

This year we've seen him drive around the outside of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo on the first lap in Montreal, and dive inside him at the Red Bull Ring's fearsome Turn 9, before that mugging of Rosberg's much faster car at Silverstone.

His defensive driving is also pretty impressive, as Rosberg found out first-hand in the closing stages in Canada this year, and until lap 39 of the British GP.

The way Verstappen expertly eased Rosberg off the road at Turn 2 while leading the Austrian GP was the textbook example of how Rosberg should have handled his own affairs during that fateful last-lap duel with Hamilton.

After the British GP, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff described Verstappen's racecraft as "spectacular". He is right, and one wonders how different things might be now had Mercedes been able to tempt Verstappen away from Red Bull while he was starring in European Formula 3 in 2014...

The FIA might have decided Verstappen's extraordinary rise at such a tender age sets a bad precedent, but he is living proof that if you are good enough it doesn't matter how old you are.

He seems to have mastered the delicate art of Pirelli tyre management in a way the likes of Nico Hulkenberg seem unable to consistently.

The way Verstappen won May's Spanish Grand Prix, and scored a podium in Austria - on both occasions 'out-managing' Raikkonen (generally considered to be F1's tyre-management master) shows Verstappen can clearly play the long game too.

According to Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost, this skill was in evidence from Verstappen's very first race in F1.

"I was really impressed by his first race, because we were on a different strategy to our competitors, and he controlled with the prime tyres against a much more competitive combination of cars and drivers with option tyres," Tost told Autosport at the end of last season.

"It's not only how he controlled it, but mostly his tyre management. If [other] drivers pushed a bit more, he immediately reacted and went two or three tenths quicker. They saw they had no chance to overtake.

"Unfortunately he couldn't finish because of reliability, but from then I knew he could do it, so it wasn't a surprise any more."

So far so good. Though you could arguably make a case Verstappen needs to improve in qualifying. He was pretty much neck-and-neck with STR team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr in this department last season (though 3-1 up in their 2016 head-to-head before Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat switcheroo), and has only once outqualified Ricciardo in their six races together at Red Bull so far.

But here Verstappen shows the honesty and humility to accept he needs Ricciardo's help setting up the car while bedding in to a new working environment , while also admitting he's had to raise his game on Saturdays to take on his Australian team-mate .

At Silverstone he did just that, emphatically outqualifying Ricciardo for the first time as team-mates (by three tenths of a second).

Ricciardo always fancies his chances against the opposition in high-speed corners, of which Silverstone has plenty, but Verstappen was able to pretty much match him there while ramming home an advantage in the slow-speed stuff, where the aggressive braking and sharp angles of his natural driving style really pay off.

If this doesn't remain a one-off result it will stand as yet another example of Verstappen's capacity for rapid self-improvement - a hallmark of all of F1's truly great drivers.

So where are the weaknesses in his game? Do they even exist? Well, there was the Australian GP this year, where Verstappen was under pressure from Sainz and overreacted to his team-mate's earlier pitstop, which ultimately led to Verstappen scoring a worse result than was otherwise possible had he stayed calm.

It seems he does not respond well to being under pressure from his team-mate - particularly in races - unless there is an obvious excuse.

If Ricciardo starts putting him to the sword it will be interesting to see how Verstappen reacts, as it's not yet crystal clear whether Melbourne was merely the result of teenage petulance, rather than any meaningful indicator of potential mental weakness.

But generally speaking Verstappen is showing all the necessary qualities to perhaps become one of F1's true greats - swashbuckling racecraft, stupendous tyre sensitivity, imperviousness to external pressure, and as he gets more comfortable at Red Bull he's beginning to show he can be a force to be reckoned with in qualifying too.

No wonder Hamilton has Verstappen's card marked...