No Champion, Not Lewis Hamilton nor Sebastian Vettel, Would Dare Want to Partner With the Daunting Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen is an absolute nightmare as a teammate. No, we are not saying that because of the controversial incident in the 2022 Brazilian GP. In fact, this is because of his relentless and unforgiving nature as a driver. This is exactly why even Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel wouldn’t want to partner with Verstappen.

This is not a speculation, but a statement made by the former boss of Formula 1 Bernie Ecclestone. The British billionaire often communicates his unfiltered opinion during interviews. This is exactly what he did when he sat down with world champion Nico Rosberg for his podcast in 2018.

The two former Formula 1 entities sat down to discuss the sport and the drivers. When Rosberg brought up a move to Renault from Red Bull by Daniel Ricciardo, it invoked a conversation about Verstappen. Ecclestone believes Ricciardo left the team to get away from the daunting figure of the Dutchman.

Moreover, the boss believed, not just Ricciardo, but even Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton would not want to partner with Verstappen.

“I don’t think any of those world champions today would want to have him (Max Verstappen) on the team,” said Ecclestone. “I don’t think Ferrari would welcome him with open arms or Mercedes. — So Sebastian (Vettel) wouldn’t want him, I’m sure. Lewis (Hamilton) wouldn’t want him.”

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At the time of this conversation, Vettel was in Ferrari, Hamilton in Mercedes, and Verstappen had become Red Bull’s de facto No.1 driver. A move for any of the three wouldn’t have made sense. However, pairing two alpha drivers together is always a recipe for disaster and Ecclestone might have a point.

Although this situation could’ve come true in the past.

Lewis Hamilton wanted to join Red Bull ahead of Mercedes alongside Sebastian Vettel

Back when Hamilton was struggling with McLaren and wanted a move away from the team, Red Bull was his likely target ahead of his current team Mercedes. According to Christian Horner, the possibility never came to fruition because of Vettel.

Speaking about the whole incident, Horner revealed, “From 2010 to 2013, he (Lewis Hamilton) was very keen to come and drive for Red Bull, [but] we had Sebastian [Vettel] at that time and to have had two alpha drivers wouldn’t have made sense.”

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The rest is history. However, imagine if Hamilton joined Red Bull and Vettel still left for Ferrari, we could’ve witnessed Hamilton and Verstappen on the same team.