Max Verstappen is the toughest teammate on the grid. The Dutchman has proved that fact several times. Since Daniel Ricciardo jumped ship to Renault, Red Bull has faced a severe challenge to find a racer to challenge Verstappen. F1 fans are aware of Alex Albon’s underwhelming performances, which have led to Red Bull scrambling to find Max a worthy teammate.
The Dutchman is by far the most adept racer to handle the Red Bull car. Albon faced some grave problems concerning it, which also saw him retire on Sunday. Although the Thai racer had shown some promise at the Mugello track, his form wore off since.
Red Bull cannot afford to have a car off the points table if they aim to challenge Mercedes and need a teammate who can thrive alongside Verstappen and challenge him.
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Recently, a clip from 2019 Spa Francorchamps surfaced with Max being questioned on the subject. A press panel with Bottas, Russell, Albon, Verstappen, and Perez would have been feisty if not a journalist had questioned Max about his teammates being nervous around him.
The thought caught the Red Bull driver off guard with Albon smirking at the situation. All Verstappen could manage was,” I don’t know. I think everybody always tries to do the best they can. I don’t know what to answer”
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Max Verstappen is not intimidating, but determined about racing
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Racing is in Max Verstappen’s blood. He grew up around the sport as an observer and as a budding driver. Thus it cannot be his fault he is excellent at what he does. Even Red Bull agrees that none other than Max can wield their car any better. However, the question of finding him a worthy partner persists.
Pundits believe that Verstappen is just scratching the surface of his full potential. For him to reach the zenith of his capabilities, someone will have to challenge his authority on his team.
The fact of Verstappen being intimidating has been lingering around for a while now. Alex Albon had also hinted at the fact, and the grid is aware of how competitive it is. However, that does not seem to be a flaw in a sportsman. Being competitive lets one keep their head straight and pursue greatness. If the racers want to compete with him, they will just have to think like him and be ultra-competitive on race day.
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