“Alex struggled with how quick Max was”: Red Bull aero wizard talks about Max Verstappen’s brilliance which hindered Albon and Pierre Gasly’s progress

Red Bull's Chief Technical Officer, Adrian Newey, commented on Max Verstappen's teammate pairings over the years and added how the two-time champion's blistering pace destroys the self-confidence of any driver paired alongside him.

Following Daniel Ricciardo's exit in 2018, the second seat at Red Bull has seen multiple drivers try to beat Max Verstappen and fail miserably.

Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, and Sergio Perez have all been paired up alongside Verstappen, with none of the three consistently coming close to the Dutchman's pace.

In a recent episode of the Beyond the Grid podcast, Adrian Newey was asked to choose two drivers for his own team. As Newey went into the details of the teammate dynamics, he revealed how the supreme abilities of Max Verstappen had detrimental effects on his teammates.

Verstappen was paired up with Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon for 2019–2020, during which both drivers struggled to come to terms with their pace deficit.

"I think Max [Verstappen] with his incredible ability has completely, not by any deliberate action but I think Alex struggled to come to terms with how quick Max was as did Pierre Gasly and other examples," Newey said on the podcast.

"So if you're going to have two teammates where one is exceptional and the other is brilliant but not quite at that level, the other one needs to be someone who will at some point accept that he certainly can't beat Max, for instance on pace. You're going to have to do it in some other way..." he added.

The Briton gave examples of Niki Lauda beating teammate Alain Prost to the 1984 title and Nico Rosberg beating Lewis Hamilton to the 2016 title when the second driver beat the title favorites.

The 64-year-old Red Bull aero wizard added that he would definitely like to work with a teammate pairing of two championship-caliber drivers, but reckoned that the off-track politics would be destructive.

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Sergio Perez reveals one thing he admires about Max Verstappen

Sergio Perez is having an inconsistent 2023 F1 campaign while his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen keeps racking up victories week in and week out.

Japan F1 GP

The Mexican driver recently gave an insight into why Verstappen was so consistent every week, while he struggles to achieve the same.

“Verstappen can adapt very quickly,” he told De Limburger. “I struggle a bit more with that. As a result, he managed to get more out of the car and also to do it every weekend. That’s something I admire about him anyway.

Perez further heaped praises on Verstappen's tenacity as he added.

“Max always and everywhere performs at the top of his game and is always 100 percent. That’s what I find most special about him. He is also a hard worker who understands very well why he is successful. If there is a setback, he knows immediately why,” he added.

The 25-year-old Red Bull driver is on course to become a three-time F1 champion in the Qatar Grand Prix, scheduled for October 6–8.