Max Verstappen has 'no room for politics', says former Red Bull F1 teammate

Defending F1 world champion Max Verstappen is a character whose on-track and off-track personalities are poles apart. A reserved, family-oriented person off-track who does not enjoy too much attention, and an extroverted aggressive racer on-track who does whatever it takes to win, the Dutch driver has managed to carve his own space in the history of the sport.

The young 24-year-old driver grew up in the F1 paddock surrounded by racing after making his debut at the tender age of 17. He is often referred to as the kind of generational talent that the sport sees once in a decade or so. Calling out the Red Bull Racing driver's name in the same breath as Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, or Lewis Hamilton is not something out of the ordinary.

With such great abilities, comes great competition in the highest echelon of motorsports, where your first benchmark is your teammate. It makes a certain driver's comments about Verstappen even more interesting.

Alex Albon, who drove alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing in 2019 and 2020, said his teammate made a huge impression on the British-Thai driver. Albon was demoted from the team in 2021 due to his performances against his teammate. Since then, he has managed to return to the sport with the Williams F1 team in 2022.

The 26-year-old went on to compliment the 2021 F1 World Champion on how relaxed he was over the weekend and said:

“He’s the most talented driver I’ve ever driven alongside. It’s difficult to compare teammates, but he drives exactly the way he comes across. There is no room for politics, he is straightforward and very calm. People don’t know him very well, but sometimes I thought, if only I was like that relaxed.”

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Alex Albon compares himself to former teammate Max Verstappen

Former Red Bull Racing driver Alex Albon believes that the car he drove for the Milton Keynes team suited both drivers. A great front-end grip with a slightly unstable rear end allows drivers to turn into corners as they want while managing the rear of the car. Albon pinned his driving style to exactly that, but when he compared his driving to Verstappen, he was shocked.

The British-Thai driver went on to explain his feelings and said:

“I’m known as a driver who likes a car with a lot of grip at the front, which allows me to steer the car well. Then this guy (Verstappen) came, it seems like I’m driving a bus next to him.”

Max Verstappen remains one to beat in the 2022 F1 season as well, as the Dutch driver leads the drivers' standings with a healthy lead over Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.