It is no secret that
David Coulthard is a fan of
Max Verstappen. The former
F1 driver has never disguised his enjoyment of the
Red Bull Racing Dutchman's performance every race. If he had to name the three best drivers of the Austrian team - which is celebrating 20 years of competing in
Formula 1 this season - he would come up with a remarkable trio:
"Max, Max and Max."Twenty years back, Coutlhard was the first driver to enter
Formula 1 with
Red Bull Racing. The team's first seasons were not super; it was only years later that the team developed into a powerhouse of stature. Meanwhile, two drivers have become world champions in a Red Bull car:
Sebastian Vettel (4x) and
Max Verstappen (3x). So, although the German took more championships for now, Coulthard still puts Verstappen above Vettel on his list.
Coulthard does not want to take anything away from Vettel's achievements but does tell the Dutch branch of
Motorsport.com:
"If you look at his career as a whole, Seb was not as impressive at the end as when he grabbed his world titles. Look at Michael Schumacher at Mercedes, he too was no longer as impressive in that period as he was in his Ferrari days. It shows that everyone has their own time, but I think it is natural to put Max at one."Webber chosen over Ricciardo
According to Coulthard, Mark Webber deserves to be third in the list of best Red Bull drivers of all time. So not
Daniel Ricciardo, as he was more of a "boy man" and his compatriot a "man man". Moreover, Ricciardo decided not to compete with Verstappen at the time, opting instead to move to Renault.