Hope for Verstappen: 'Great to see this fight growing'

Max Verstappen hopes to win again this weekend in Monaco with Red Bull Racing. The gap in the world championship is currently 14 points and the Dutchman hopes to reduce this gap as soon as possible. His former teammate Alexander Albon has faith in him.

Albon drove for the Austrian racing stable for a season and a half, after which he was told that Sergio Pérez was coming in his place. However, the driver is still keeping a close eye on Verstappen. "You can see how hungry Max is – his first laps in Imola and Barcelona, where he had his elbows out, really showed that," he says in his column at GQ Magazine.

Thai sees Verstappen has a lot going for him to finish as a winner this season. "He wants this championship and I hope the fight is really going to develop over the course of the season. It would be great to see this battle grow and go punch-for-punch to the end."

Competitor Mercedes

Despite this, Red Bull should not underestimate its rival Mercedes, argues Albon. "You don’t win seven consecutive world championships by accident. It looks like the pace advantage that we had in Bahrain has been matched and just edged by Mercedes in Barcelona, but it is still so early in the season and the boys and girls back at our factory have a reputation for rapid in-season development."