Former Red Bull man opines surprise Max Verstappen contract details as Michael Schumacher comparison made

Former Red Bull man Richard Hopkins feels that it wouldn't come as a surprise if Max Verstappen has a contract clause that means he has a say in who his teammate would be. The Dutch driver has been a part of the team since 2015, and his record with the team has been immaculate.

In 2019, when Daniel Ricciardo left the team, Max Verstappen assumed the role of a team leader and has never looked back. In 2021, he won his first title and has since been on an unbeaten run.

At the same time, the Dutch driver has not had a strong teammate in the second car. First it was Pierre Gasly who was decimated, then it was Alex Albon, then we had Sergio Perez followed by Liam Lawson, and now we have Yuki Tsunoda.

Amongst all of this, none of the drivers have been able to have a stable footing within the team. Talking about the Red Bull driver situation and the influence that Max Verstappen has within the team, former employee Richard Hopkins feels that it would not come as a surprise if Verstappen had a say in who his teammates were going to be, just like Michael Schumacher or Nigel Mansell used to. As quoted by Racingnews365, he said,

"I don’t see Red Bull bringing in a clear number two driver. Max clearly wants all the focus on him and doesn’t need a team-mate challenging him. On the other hand, having two equal drivers as McLaren does is a key part of their rapid rise. They push each other, which in turn pushes the team to deliver more. This competitive environment can drive faster overall improvement."

He added,

“It’s possible that Max has something in his contract giving him a say in who his team-mate is like how other drivers, such as Michael Schumacher and Nigel Mansell had in the past."

Much better to have a Lando Norris-Oscar Piastri dynamic instead of a Max Verstappen team leader

Talking about what his preference would be, Hopkins said that he'd much prefer a scenario where there are two drivers competing against each other and pushing the team forward, something akin to what McLaren had compared to what Red Bull has. At Red Bull, everything is catered towards Max Verstappen, and that ends up hurting the second driver and doesn't help the team evolve either. He said,

"While it might not be formally written, I’m sure Max has a verbal opinion on the matter. He’d likely prefer someone of higher quality than what he’s seen recently. In short, I’d much rather have the challenge of balancing two strong drivers than dealing with a clear hierarchy that creates issues."

This season Max Verstappen is teamed up with Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull. After the kind of results his past teammates have had, it's hard to predict how things will go with the Japanese driver.