Schumacher: "One thing is clear, everything is built around Verstappen"

Ralf Schumacher believes Red Bull Racing did well to replace Alexander Albon with Sergio Perez. The 31-year-old will lose less time to Max Verstappen, although Schumacher says Perez may find it hard to cope with the fact that Verstappen is the main driver in the Austrian team.

Asked if Perez will be Verstappen's next victim next season, Schumacher replied: "Verstappen is a super talent, there's no doubt about that. But I think Perez will be closer to him than an Albon in 2020. It will not be four tenths that Perez is chasing," is the expectation of the former Formula One driver.

What doesn't play into the Mexican's hands is that Verstappen has been at Red Bull for several years now and has been able to bend the team to his will over the past few seasons. "Sergio will need some time to reach his maximum performance at Red Bull. Because one thing is clear: the car, the whole team, is built around Max Verstappen."

Battle at Mercedes

At Mercedes the battle is between Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton. Schumacher does not think Bottas can be considered a serious title contender. "There are races where Valtteri will compete against you. But over a whole season he has no chance. He is not stable enough for that. He will make more mistakes as the season goes on - like last year when he messed up a few starts towards the end of the year."

Nico Rosberg did prove in 2016 that you can beat Lewis in title contention. But Lewis has learned from that. That's why it won't happen again that a supposedly weaker one wins," he concludes his story at F1-Insider.