3 times Max Verstappen was outclassed by his teammate

Max Verstappen is now a four-time world champion. The Red Bull driver made his debut in 2015, and in a car that has spanned a decade now, he's already achieved more than most could dream of. The Dutch driver joined F1 as a teenager at Toro Rosso alongside Spaniard Carlos Sainz.

After just one year, Verstappen got promoted to the senior team, where he made an instant impression by winning his first race with the squad. Since that moment when he became the youngest race winner in F1 history, Verstappen has not looked back. The Dutch driver has been a dominant force, and even though he rose to the top in F1 in 2020, he's been that domineering presence within his team for much longer. So much so that it often comes as a surprise when his teammate gets the better of him.

More often than not, such a thing doesn't happen, but when it does, it does come as a surprise. In a career that's spanned a decade, there have been moments when Verstappen has been outclassed by his teammate. In this feature, we'll take a look at a few of them.

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Three times Max Verstappen's teammate got the better of him

#1 Carlos Sainz (2015 F1 Spanish GP)

The first driver Max Verstappen was teamed up with was Carlos Sainz. The two young drivers started their F1 careers together at Toro Rosso, and in the first few races, Verstappen took some time to get used to the sport and learn the key details in the process as well.

This was evident in the race in Barcelona where Sainz's performance surprised quite a few people. While the spotlight was more or less on Verstappen as the young teenager was learning his craft, the Spaniard first out-qualified the Dutch driver, and then in the race he had a clear edge over him, which helped him secure a top-10 result. Verstappen finished the race outside of points.

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#2 Daniel Ricciardo (2016 F1 Monaco GP)

Max Verstappen swiftly moved to Red Bull in 2016, and soon after, you could see an elevated challenge that waited for him in the form of Daniel Ricciardo. Even though the Dutch driver won his very first race with the team in Barcelona, as the circus moved to Monaco, it was the Australian who was ruthlessly brilliant throughout the weekend.

It was this that helped Ricciardo secure pole position for the race on Sunday and, at the same time, cost Verstappen, who was trying to keep up with his rapid teammate. As it turned out, while pushing too hard on his qualifying lap, Verstappen made a mistake and clipped the barriers, subsequently ending his session.

While Ricciardo would suffer a heartbreak in the race as a poor pit stop cost him the win, the Aussie did, however, completely dominate his teammate throughout that weekend.

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#3 Sergio Perez (2024 F1 Azerbaijan GP)

This one might come as a surprise because there's a reason why Sergio Perez would not be at Red Bull in 2024, and the reason is his lack of points with the team. The worst case of it was last season, where the driver just couldn't get on top of the car and was just a few pegs below his teammate.

There was, however, one weekend where everything just seemingly clicked for Perez, and that was in the race in Baku. The track that has always been the Mexican's favorite throughout his career saw Checo convincingly outqualify Max Verstappen on Saturday with a gap of around two-tenths.

On Sunday, while Verstappen was battling hard to even try and finish in the top five, Perez was battling hard to secure a P2 finish against the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Perez would, unfortunately, end up crashing out of the race in the last few laps with a move deemed a racing incident by the stewards, but this was one weekend where the Mexican had the Dutch driver under his thumb from start to finish.