mobile app bar

“It’s Best to Keep Your Honour” Max Verstappen on Becoming a Second Driver

Somin Bhattacharjee
Published

Max Verstappen: "It's Best to Keep Your Honour" When Asked About Becoming a Second Driver

Max Verstappen never had to deal with the difficulty of being second choice at a team as such is his talent. But the Dutchman would rather retire from F1 altogether than play second fiddle to someone else if such a situation ever came up.

In his latest documentary, the Dutchman said, “If you end up in such situations, it’s best to keep to honor to yourself and just go fishing, or something.” 

Verstappen joined F1 in 2015 and has always been the main man since then. At Toro Rosso, until the first half of 2016, he was the main figure ahead of Carlos Sainz, and since then at Red Bull, he has always found himself being number one.

In fact, Verstappen has made life for Red Bull’s number two drivers very difficult by setting extremely high standards. Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly and now Sergio Perez — all have seen how difficult it is to match the 26-year-old. And in the process, their performances have ended up looking much worse.

Verstappen, for one, cannot imagine letting someone who is naturally quicker than him ‘pass’ just because his team asked him to. That is something that his current teammate Perez has had to do on several occasions.

Thankfully, for Verstappen, he hasn’t had to deal with that. As Red Bull’s main man, he has won three World Championships and has established himself as one of the sport’s greatest drivers of all time. Considering the way he is driving, it is unlikely that he will be a second driver anytime soon.

Post Edited By:Vidit Dhawan

About the author

Somin Bhattacharjee

Somin Bhattacharjee

x-iconinstagram-iconlinkedin-icon

Formula 1 Editor Somin Bhattacharjee fell for the sport as well as Fernando Alonso on the same day — during the Spaniard’s thrilling victory at the German GP in 2010. Over the years, the passion magnified manyfold, and metamorphosed into a writing career in 2021. Though holding a bachelor's degree in marketing, Somin discovered his true calling in writing. He has penned over 2,700 articles for TheSportsRush, presenting a diverse range — news reports, opinions, and exclusives. A true Tiffosi, Somin never gives up on a chance to defend the Ferrari boys as a fan. As a sports writer though, he remains objective to the core and relishes opportunities to follow and engage in dissecting the action during races. That’s where the real thrill lies for him. Beyond the racetrack, Somin plays different sports including soccer. He enjoys exploring other sporting events and proudly supports Spanish soccer club Real Madrid.

Share this article