Max Verstappen has had an ultimate rollercoaster with his nine teammates so far, maintaining a consistent performance despite constant changes in his surroundings and the people around him. The Singapore GP was the only exception where Verstappen could not perform his best this season, but that was also due to the car’s inability to respond well during the race.
The Dutchman’s former teammates speak highly of him, and most of them have the same feedback when asked about the experience of teaming up with “Mad Max”.
Albon and Gasly struggled to match Verstappen’s speed
Max Verstappen teamed up with Pierre Gasly in 2019. However, the duo did not last long as the Frenchman was unable to get on the podium in the first 12 races of the season, although Verstappen had won two races by that time.
He was soon replaced by Thai driver Alex Albon before the Belgian Grand Prix, who delivered consistently impressive performances and was soon decided to be the permanent replacement for Gasly until 2020. Albon was outperformed by his teammate when he ended the season with 105 points, while Verstappen had 214 points, 11 podiums, and two race wins. He too was replaced at that time by the Mexican driver, Sergio Perez, who was expected to perform well due to his experience on the ground.
Newey, the technology engineer told Beyond the Grid podcast “I think Max with his incredible ability has completely, not by any deliberate action, but I think Alex struggled to come to terms with just how quick Max was, as did Pierre Gasly and other examples,”
“So, if you’re going to have two team-mates where one is exceptional and the other is brilliant but not quite at that level, the other one needs to be somebody who will at some point accept that you certainly can’t beat Max on pace.”
“You’re going to have to do it in some other way, which of course has been done if you look at Niki [Lauda] and Alain [Prost] against each other, or Nico [Rosberg] and Lewis [Hamilton].”
Max Verstappen’s path to third F1 championship
Max Verstappen is on the very edge of grabbing the 2023 drivers’ title, by dominating the 2023 season. The driver has won his 13th race in the Japanese Grand Prix by locking in his constructors title of the season. As per the reports, he could win his third title as early as the Sprint race at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar, recreating history.
Verstappen’s thirteenth victory this season has positioned him at 400 points, whereas Perez lags far behind with just 223 points, a lack of 177 points. With only 180 points available in the final six rounds of the season, including three Sprint races, Perez has to face a tremendous challenge to keep up.
However, now Verstappen just needs 146 points or more on top of Perez, who is second in the driver’s championship.
Do you think Max will be able to secure his third title in Qatar? Do let us know in the comment section below.
