At the young age of 25, Max Verstappen has already cemented his legacy as one of the all-time greats in F1. However, according to the Red Bull ace’s former teammate Alex Albon, he is well and truly on his way to becoming the undisputed greatest driver of all time.
Albon spent the majority of his racing career as a Red Bull junior, and after impressing for Toro Rosso in the first half of the 2019 season, he was given an opportunity to drive for the Milton-Keynes-based outfit. He was a Red Bull driver until the end of the 2020 season before being replaced by Sergio Perez.
In a column for The Players’ Tribune, Albon reflected back on his two years spent at Red Bull. He talks about his partnership with Verstappen and how the entire team worked on making a car that would bring the best out in him.
That Albon smile is returning to the grid in 2022 😁
And we can’t wait for many more memorable moments from the Thai driver 🙌#F1 @alex_albon pic.twitter.com/bpseu5LEA5
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 8, 2021
Albon admitted that he wasn’t trying to accuse Red Bull of favoring Verstappen, but insists that the car was built around him since he was the lead driver. This is something that the 26-year-old says he understands.
Max Verstappen can become the greatest F1 driver of all time
Albon went on to talk about Verstappen’s potential as he strives to break all existing F1 records. According to him, the Dutch driver is on his way to becoming the best driver of all time, but has a very ‘distinct style of driving’.
Verstappen prefers the car to be set up in a way that suits him but does not work well for other drivers. Albon added that he did try and make changes to his car’s setup, but in his two years at Red Bull, both the cars he drove were suited to Verstappen in general.
Also read: Where Is Max Verstappen From?: What’s the Nationality And Ethnicity of Red Bull Superstar?
Alex Albon thought of Pierre Gasly after being dominated by Verstappen
At the start of the 2019 season, Red Bull announced that Pierre Gasly would be Verstappen’s teammate, after impressing for Toro Rosso. However, his stint turned out to be a nightmare as he struggled to adapt to the car or match up to Verstappen.
Midway into the season, Red Bull decided to pull the plug and send Gasly back to Toro Rosso. That is when they decided to bring Albon to the team, even though he had started just 12 races and 2019 was his rookie year.
Alex Albon on how relaxed Max Verstappen is 😳 pic.twitter.com/VLh4CGeOTL
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) August 11, 2022
Albon wrote in his column that when he came to Red Bull and saw how the entire team was working on making the car more suited to Verstappen, he understood how Gasly had felt. He labeled Red Bull as a place that is not for learning. When the Austrian team approaches someone, they expect that driver to be at the front from day one.
