“He’s the only one that I will not be happy to maybe compete”– Fernando Alonso doesn’t want to compete with Max Verstappen in same team

“He’s the only one that I will not be happy to maybe compete”– Fernando Alonso doesn’t think it’s a good idea to compete with Max Verstappen in the same team.

Competing with Max Verstappen in the same team doesn’t seem to be an excellent idea to Fernando Alonso, as it is apparent with Daniel Ricciardo’s voluntary exit from Red Bull, followed by the demotion of Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon and now Sergio Perez’s struggles.

Alonso thinks that the current synergy of Verstappen and Red Bull makes him an unstoppable force, and he is the only driver in the existing grid; he would maybe hesitate to partner.

“At the moment, he’s the only one that I will not be happy to maybe compete [with],” Alonso said. “I respect Max a lot. So, at the moment in the Red Bull environment with his team,” he added.

“With his experience there, I don’t think that many drivers can join Red Bull and beat Max. If you took Max out of Red Bull, maybe you [would] have a better chance.”

He’s the best driver on the grid

Alonso claims that the Dutchman is probably the best driver in the paddock and assures that Verstappen has matured immensely from his initial days, where he was a bit reckless.

“I think he is on top of the game at the moment, I consider him the best in the paddock right now,” he said. “His improvement was very noticeable in the first couple of years.”

“He started already at a high level but, sometimes, making a few accidents here and there, maybe too much aggression in some of the movements and things like that.”

“Now, I think he reached a level of maturity that is very high and, with his natural speed, it becomes quite difficult to beat him now for any one. So I think he’s the favourite for this year and probably for the years to come.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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