Albers sees humanity in mistake of 'alien' Verstappen

F1 News

9 December 2021 at 20:48
Last update 9 December 2021 at 22:06
  • GPblog.com

Max Verstappen just failed to complete a masterful lap in the final corner of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia. It was a rare mistake by the Dutchman, which caused Christijan Albers to humanise Verstappen for a moment.

Former F1-driver Albers is impressed by the Dutchman. When discussing the race weekend of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in the Formule 1-podcast of De Telegraaf the Dutchman wants to start with Saturday. Albers praises the form of the Red Bull driver during qualifying on the Saturdays this season.

Verstappen not a robot after all

Every week, according to his countryman, Verstappen manages to get the most out of the car again, even to the point of being better than his car. Every race, Verstappen manages to get in front of the Mercedes cars of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas or split them. Albers calls Verstappen's performance grandiose and finds it almost otherworldly.

That's why the Dutchman jokes to presenter Erik van Haren: "I was also happy to see that he is not a robot and that Max can also make a mistake, now and then." The pressure is now noticeable with both drivers and according to the former driver that sometimes leads to such mistakes. However, Albers cannot think of a driver who has ever performed twenty qualifying times in a season as extraterrestrially as Verstappen.