“It Takes Its Toll”: Red Bull Mechanic Acknowledges the Plight in Being Max Verstappen’s Teammate

Max Verstappen has earned a reputation for dominating his teammates. Since Daniel Ricciardo’s departure in 2018, no driver has been able to match the Dutchman’s pace. Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon, Ricciardo’s immediate successors, are prime examples, with both paying the price of being Verstappen’s teammate as Red Bull ruthlessly replaced them.

Sergio Perez, who joined in 2021, managed to hold on to his place for four seasons but never really got close to Verstappen‘s high standards. Red Bull’s mechanic Calum Nicholas shared why it was so difficult for all of them to be a solid teammate to the four-time World Champion.

“I think when you’re up against someone who’s as talented as Max and who can make it look effortless, it takes its toll, you know, like when you can go out and you can come back in the garage and be like, yeah, I nailed that lap and Max will go out and he’ll find a tenth and a half on you,” he said on the Road to Success podcast.

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Nicholas added how the consistent defeats in a head-to-head battle with Verstappen would “wear down” any driver. He also stated that the Dutchman was “open and honest” outside the car which made his teammate comfortable. But when he started to turn the wheel on track, his “killer” instincts became very difficult to overcome.

That’s exactly what Gasly, Albon, and Perez had experienced firsthand. And now, Liam Lawson will be the next driver to try and withstand the plight of being teammates with the Dutch lion.

Replacing Perez for 2025, there is a notion that Lawson will falter badly against Verstappen‘s ruthless pace just like Red Bull’s previous juniors did.

Besides his relentlessness, what makes Verstappen so impeccable?

Red Bull recognized early in Verstappen’s career that he was a driver who had immense talent and given the perfect car, could dominate F1. As a result, they placed all their bets on him and started building the team and the car concept around him.

From 2019 onwards, Verstappen was provided with a car that tended to oversteer—a characteristic that complemented his driving style of maximizing speed through corners. However, this setup proved challenging for drivers like Gasly, Albon, and even the experienced Perez to handle effectively.

Even with the new ground-effect car, Red Bull stuck to this philosophy of developing their car around Verstappen, which made him an unstoppable force, especially in 2022 and 2023, when he dominated the sport.

Lawson will have to be at his very best to tackle Verstappen’s ability. Having tested with the Austrian team a lot, the Kiwi driver feels confident that he can hit the ground running to be at par with the Dutchman, which would be a welcome change at Red Bull.