Red Bull Chief Talks About Potential Verstappen-Hamilton Partnership

Red Bull chief Helmut Marko believes the chances of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen ever joining as team-mates within the one outfit in Formula 1 are slim due to the two drivers having the two biggest egos on the F1 circuit.

Should things go his way at the Mexican Grand Prix this weekend, Hamilton will win his fifth world championship having emerged victorious in 2008, 2014, 2015, and 2017 previously.

The Brit is viewed as one of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport, and is close to being in touching distance of the championship record held by legendary driver, Michael Schumacher, who has seven titles.

Verstappen, meanwhile, is the new golden boy of the sport and, having just turned 21-years-old, has plenty of years ahead of him to make his mark in F1. He is famed for his aggressive driving style on the track in what many pundits believe is a throwback to the swashbuckling style of years previous.

Both drivers have had run-ins with team-mates and officials over the years, so could they actually co-exist as team-mates?

Marko doesn’t think so.

“You have to have some sort of harmony in the team,” the Red Bull boss told Sky Sports News.

“At the moment they are the two drivers with the biggest ego. That would be more than a challenge to the team.”

While Hamilton leads the 2018 drivers’ championship, Verstappen is down in fifth position as Red Bull go through a transitional phase of changing from Renault parts to Honda power units for 2019.

If Verstappen and Hamilton ever became teammates, many fear that there will be a situation similar to when Lewis and Fernando Alonso were teammates. The difference was that Hamilton was still a rookie when he partnered Alonso and still had a bit of respect for him.

In the case of Verstappen, both drivers are experienced and will clearly view each other as threats.