F1 News
Verstappen and Alonso in one team? 'That will be a second Senna-Prost'
- Ludo van Denderen
Joaquín 'Jo' Ramirez knows what he is talking about. The former McLaren coordinator - now enjoying his retirement for years - worked for the British team at a time when internal tensions could be quite high. It was the time when with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, two rather dominant drivers, were under contract at McLaren. Therefore, Ramirez has a tip for Red Bull Racing: never put another absolute top driver next to Max Verstappen.
After all, that will cause hassle, the Mexican firmly believes. So a dream duo of Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso in the same team? "I wouldn't do it, because it will be very difficult," he responded in Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo. "I wouldn't repeat Senna-Prost. The experience we had at McLaren... people think twice!"
According to Ramirez, drivers are remarkable characters. "The egos of these athletes at this level are very big, and it is difficult [to have top drivers driving side by side]. For example, Ayrton always had anxiety. He told me: 'Alain will always have the best car, because he has been with McLaren longer, he will always have the best engine, because the bond between him and Honda is very strong'."
Senna and Prost had gimmicks at McLaren
Ramirez denied in the newspaper that this was the case, but there was still some suspicion. Incidentally, McLaren had all sorts of solutions to this at the time. Fearing that one driver thought he was disadvantaged compared to the other, the team used this gimmick, for example: An ever-changing mechanic chose before the weekend which engine from the available pool would be used by which driver. True, there was always something of a slight difference in an engine, but at least this way, the drivers knew that no one was being favoured.
This article has been written in collaboration with Matt Gretton