'Verstappen is only a human being and wouldn't outdrive Russell at Williams'

Last season Max Verstappen was convincingly faster than his teammate that the true speed of the RB16 was questioned. Verstappen would get more speed out of that car than is actually in it. According to former top designer Gary Anderson that is not possible at all.

“I think it’s very very difficult for a driver to flatter the car," says Anderson in his review of 2020 for The Race. "You have to have the tools underneath you that suit your driving skills. The days of picking a car up by the scruff of the neck and doing a laptime the car can’t do are long gone I believe."

According to Anderson, the best drivers are very close to each other in terms of talent and the differences with the same material and in a car that suits both drivers will be very minimal. In his view, we shouldn't think that Verstappen is performing the impossible.

Verstappen, Hamilton and Bottas are all very good

"The opposition is your teammate and Max Verstappen is a lot faster than his current teammate. One of the biggest differences between teammates over the season. Lot’s of excuses for it, but that’s the way it is. Max drives the car he can drive. His driving talent or adaptability to driving that car is very very good, but he’s just a human being. He wouldn’t get in a Williams and outdrive George Russell for example.

"He would be with him, because he’s one of the good guys, but so is Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas and so is lots and lots of drivers. They’re all good guys and they just have to apply their talent to the car they’re driving. If the two happen to match up, that’s what it will be. And that’s why Red Bull have gone the route they are, because Max has been leading the team for quite a few years now," Anderson concludes