Max Verstappen makes it quite difficult for Red Bull Racing to find a teammate. Although it is a constant issue in the Formula 1 world, he is no longer involved. In conversation with AUTOhebdo he discusses all the hoopla he has to endure from the media, as well as what he has learned from this year and what he expects from Mercedes in 2021.
“It’s pretty good to give Red Bull a headache every now and then, right?” Jokes the Dutchman in conversation with the French medium. ‘To be honest, I don’t care at all. I do my job, I like car racing and I like to go fast. Then I go home, enjoy my privacy and move on to the next circuit. ‘
However, enjoying that privacy does not always work well, the Red Bull Racing star continues: ‘When I’m with my friends, I try to take it easy. Everything you do ends up with the media. There are times when I would like to go back to the 80s, when no one had a cell phone and social media did not exist. ‘
Verstappen’s title dream falls to pieces
Red Bull sounded promising at the start of the 2020 season and had a strong package ready to attack Mercedes with. This year, however, it didn’t work out at the Austrian racing team, after which Julien Billiotte, the French interviewer, asked what you can actually take with you from such a season: ‘It’s more a question of regularity and consistency. ‘
‘This stems from the experience you gain over the years. Now every year I try to improve a little bit in every area ‘, says Verstappen. When the title can no longer be achieved, Verstappen tries to get the most out of the year at an individual level.
Mercedes supreme in 2021?
The Limburger is also being questioned about his chances for 2021. Mercedes, which was supreme this year, will no longer be able to make use of a nice piece of innovation that they first showed during the winter tests in 2020. The abolition from next year According to Verstappen, this innovation, the DAS system, will not have any consequences: ‘It doesn’t matter much.
“It only helps them to get the rubber a little up to temperature,” he knows. Mercedes will also be hard to beat next year. I don’t like talking about it, because before you know it, the internet says I think we can beat Mercedes. We have to work hard and at the same time be discreet, so that it doesn’t all immediately appear in the media. ‘
Wolff doesn’t want two alpha males
Toto Wolff will also keep Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton side by side in 2021. The main argument of the Mercedes team boss for keeping both the Finn and the Briton is because he does not like two dominant figures in one team. “In my opinion that is possible,” Verstappen refutes. “It all depends on how the team deals with both drivers.”
Should Verstappen make the switch to the German racing stable within a considerable time, he will most likely be paired with Hamilton. He, in turn, would not like such a formidable teammate in the autumn of his career, suggested Robert Doornbos, among others.
Verstappen does not comment on these political motives for or against a coming: ‘That thought does not really occur to me. I just want to be in the fastest car. I am satisfied with how I am doing now and believe in the Red Bull project. Who is on the other side of the garage does not matter to me, whether that one rookie is or a seven-time world champion. ‘
