Max Verstappen is in the midst of explaining why, when he is free from doubt, people banging on about the psychology of sport is amusing and pointless. It is safe to assume that the 20-year-old, who is the youngest driver in history to start a grand prix and the youngest driver to win one, will not be secretly employing a sports psychologist to help him prepare for the new Formula One season, which begins this weekend in Melbourne.

Verstappen is more intent on illustrating his argument by reliving his first race in a kart. He was only seven and he and his mechanic arrived alone at a track in Emmen in the Netherlands. Max felt calm but the mechanic, his father Jos, who had raced 107 times in Formula One, was jittery.

“He was far more nervous than me, which was very funny,” Verstappen says. “I saw my dad next to the fence, holding tight, and you can see from the body language he was really tense and worried. But we got pole and won both races. It was perfect – but I spoke to my dad after the first race. I said: ‘I saw you were very nervous.’ He said: ‘Of course. It’s your first race.’ But I was just enjoying it and driving as fast as I could.”

Verstappen maintains that simple purity now: “I never even think of the mental side of things because I never had any issues. If you are a bit weak in your head maybe you can train your mind but it will never be your strong point. Many people ask: ‘What do you need mentally to succeed in F1?’ I say: ‘What do you mean mentally?’ I just enjoy it and drive as fast I can. But so many people think your psychology is such a massive thing. For me, it’s not necessary.”

His confidence was sealed during his early karting career when he won 68 out of his first 70 races in the Netherlands and Belgium. I’m intrigued to hear how little Max reacted to those two defeats. “I had a mechanical problem in one race. In the other I was in the lead but somebody left some water on the track and I spun off. I was crying because I was only used to winning. I was really angry. But then I felt very determined to win the next race, which I did.”

Racing for Red Bull, Verstappen seems likely to eventually establish himself as the long-term successor to Lewis Hamilton as world champion – a belief that Hamilton has underlined on numerous occasions. In his first race for Red Bull Verstappen memorably won the Spanish Grand Prix in 2016 when still only 18. He has since produced some staggering drives – from an unforgettable performance in the wet in Brazil that year to flawless victories in Malaysia and Mexico when he was finally given a reliable car towards the end of last season.

But surely Verstappen must have doubts when he is struggling in a fitful car. “No,” he says. “You always have to believe in yourself and I had that from karting. Of course, for me, maybe it was a bit easier because I was winning lots of races and I never had to doubt myself. I was never one of those kids saying: ‘Is it all going to be all right?’ If you start doubting yourself like that, thinking: ‘Am I good enough?’ – maybe there is a reason you’re thinking that.”

Max Verstappen celebrates his 2017 win in Malaysia. Photograph: Diego Azubel/EPA

Does Verstappen feel certain he will become world champion one day? “I always think if I have the right car, the fastest car, then I can become world champion. But you need to have that car and so far I haven’t had the fastest package.”

This year Mercedes and Ferrari will probably remain ahead of Red Bull, the third-strongest team, as Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel do battle again at the front of the grid. Does this expectation tally with Verstappen’s acceptance that it could be another few seasons before Red Bull provide the fastest car – as they did for Vettel when he won four successive F1 titles from 2010 to 2013? “I don’t know. Maybe this year we have a great car but it takes time.”

Patience does not come easily to the gifted – and Verstappen was tested last season when his car failed to finish seven races. He maintained his professionalism but, as he says with a grimace: “It’s not nice – and sometimes you have nights where you can’t sleep or you’re restless or disappointed. But you remind yourself not to give up.”

He smiles wryly when I mention the Canadian Grand Prix where he had driven his way into second place only to suffer another retirement. “That one was hard,” he agrees, remembering how he had banged his fists against the steering wheel. “Baku was also tough. I was unhappy but the team is also unhappy. Everybody was trying their best to achieve better reliability but there’s no quick fix. Something new was breaking down every time. We still managed to turn things around very positively – especially in Malaysia where the win was emotional.”

Verstappen finished the last six races in the top five, with two victories, so will Red Bull be as competitive at the start of this season? “I hope it will be better than that. I’m very happy with the progress but we have to wait until Melbourne to see where we are.”

Three years ago, in Melbourne, Verstappen made his F1 debut for Toro Rosso. He had turned 17 just over five months earlier and did not even have a driving licence. “When the lights come on and you roll up to the start you’re a bit nervous – but only because the procedures are new. As soon as you are into the race you’re not nervous any more. It’s only a quick heart-rate increase and then it’s fine.”

A 16-year-old Max Verstappen 16, speaks with his father Jos Verstappen (R) prior to the a Formula 3 race in 2014. Photograph: Sander Koning/AFP/Getty Images

He was in the points until engine failure forced a retirement. In his next race, in Malaysia, Verstappen finished seventh and so became the youngest driver in Formula One history to earn points – at the age of 17 and 180 days. His emergence as a precocious talent has led to comparisons to Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher – but it is too early in Verstappen’s career for such claims to be made with persuasive force. Yet even Senna and Schumacher would have been impressed by his drive in a rain-swept Brazil in 2016. “I don’t want to sound arrogant,” Verstappen says, “but I always believed I was good in the wet. I was more surprised the other drivers were not when it came to finding the best grip as I was coming from the back to third place. It’s all about feeling and finesse.”

Rival drivers have also accused Verstappen of being reckless. How does he now get on with Kimi Raikkonen – who was so furious at Spa in 2016 when Verstappen suddenly braked and blocked the Ferrari driver on the Kemmel straight? “Kimi is cool now. As racing drivers you always have those moments that it gets a bit heated but then you start from zero again.”

Did Verstappen feel unfairly criticised? “Yeah. It’s not illegal. It doesn’t say anywhere in the rule book you can’t do what I did. When you’re new they always try to be hard on you. If you’re a good, quick new guy there’s more attention on you. And when you start to beat the established big guys they don’t like it – which is normal. I’ve just been myself. I say what I think and if somebody attacks me unfairly I definitely tell them. They changed the rules for a few races but then they got rid of it again. There was not really anything I was doing wrong. I was on the limit but you always have to find a limit with everything.”

Verstappen has never been star‑struck. He stresses that as a kid: “I didn’t look up to any drivers. I had no pictures in my room. I was not admiring anyone. Of course with my dad being a driver I had a lot of respect for him. But I didn’t see my dad as an idol. He’s my dad.”

Their relationship seems healthy and free of the complexities that trouble many fathers and sons in professional sport. “When you get those problems that’s mainly because the dad hasn’t done it himself and he’s living through his son. I knew what my dad was telling me was in my best interests.”

His father is Dutch while his mother, Sophie, is Belgian. She was immersed in karting and, as Verstappen says: “My mother raced against Jenson Button and [Giancarlo] Fisichella and beat them. She even raced against Christian Horner [Red Bull’s team principal]. He admitted: ‘She was faster than me!’ She was very good – but then she got married to my dad.

“Our family race together in karts. With my mum and my sister there’s always competition. They’re within a 10th [of a second] of each other and my sister gets angry because she thinks she’s better. I last raced my dad when I was 13 and we were doing similar lap times. I enjoyed it.”

Does Verstappen imagine he will still be racing in F1 in 10 years? “Yeah. I’ll only be 30 then. But I won’t be here until I’m 40. That’s too long.”

Twenty years from a middle-aged milestone, Verstappen sinks back in his chair and grins. He is too young to look far ahead but, as he knows with certainty, his best years stretch out in front of him.