Max Verstappen reveals the one thing he would never do as team boss

22:01, 12 Jan

byDrew Murphy

Max Verstappen has claimed that he would never pair two top young drivers together if he were to become a Formula 1 team boss.

“At the end of the day, you really see the true colours of people when you fight for championships, but it's very tough, and if I were a team boss i would never risk two drivers fighting like that.”

- Max Verstappen

The four-time world champion argued that the strategy is “not sustainable” and can “break up” the team in the long run.

These claims were made during a discussion on the Pellas Pistas Podcast alongside fellow F1 driver Gabriel Bortoleto.

Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

Verstappen discussed the advantages of a line-up like Bortoleto has at Audi, paired next to the veteran Nico Hulkenberg, as he explained why that strategy works better than having two names at their peak together.

Verstappen said: “It’s not ideal, I think if you look at the best partnerships in the past of how to win championships, Team and Driver.

“For a team, I think that stress is not always what you want, and when you have the same age.

“I think what you need to try to achieve in a way in Formula 1 is to have one older guy that is at his peak or close to going over the peak, that immediately you have the other guy step in to make sure that you don’t also as a team go backwards, to make sure the other driver’s also there to take over in a sense.”

In terms of the impact of having two of the best drivers together in a line-up, Verstappen said: “They will always try to mess with each other and, at the end of the day, even if the team is very successful now, eventually it will break it up, and I think you will see that happening very soon in Formula 1 as well with the current scenario.”

Infighting and chaos

The Dutchman detailed why he would not create such a pairing if he were to become a team boss.

Verstappen added: “I’m more worried that the internal fight that you create, and people will leave.

“If it’s the driver, very important people up top… If it’s such a mess between the drivers, you create a two-sided garage.

Oscar Piastri. Photo: RacePictures.

“At one point, it doesn't matter how successful you are; it will break it up. It will create problems eventually.

“You can deal with it one year, quite intense, maybe two years, but it’s not sustainable for me personally.

“If you’re not fighting for championships, it’s less of a problem.

“At the end of the day, you really see the true colours of people when you fight for championships, but it's very tough, and if I were a team boss i would never risk two drivers fighting like that.”

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