Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has revealed that he is targeting four world championships by the age of 30.

The Red Bull driver celebrates his milestone 21st birthday at the Russian GP on Sunday, four years to the week after he made his F1 practice debut aged 17.

And although playing down the significance of his latest age milestone, Verstappen gave an insight into the big ambition he has for the rest of his 20s.

Verstappen said: “Hopefully in two years’ time we will have the whole package together.

“Then I’ll be more or less 23, so then we have another six, seven years to win championships. So hopefully around four.

“I hope, that would be nice.”

Verstappen has been recognised as a precocious talent since being fast-tracked to F1 as a teenager after one year in single-seaters.

He already holds the record for F1’s youngest driver, points scorer, podium finisher and race winner, while he has until the end of 2020 to dislodge Sebastian Vettel as F1’s youngest world champion.

“I have to say it went really quick,” said Verstappen. “I feel F3 is such a long time ago. To remember the F3 season [in 2014] is already pretty hard, the exact details.

“This is my fourth season in F1, it has gone really quick, and I’m only 21.”

While his speed and on-track flair has ruffled the feathers of the sport’s established world champions from time to time, he was also received praise from his elder peers.

Asked what he makes of positive comments from Lewis Hamilton, F1’s current world champion and title leader, Verstappen said: “It’s always good and always nice, but at the end of the day I always focus on myself.

“It’s of course nice for other people to say it. Lewis has always been really nice to me, he’s a cool guy and he deserves where he is at the moment in his career.

“He’s a very talented driver first of all, but he also works hard for it to achieve the results.”