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Verstappen leaving Red Bull? 'He's not going to get that power anywhere else'
- Ludo van Denderen
Christijan Albers is a bit done with it. For quite a while there have been rumours that Max Verstappen might leave Red Bull Racing after the upcoming season; to make the switch to Mercedes or Aston Martin. But former F1 driver Albers thinks it may not even happen at all, he explains in the Telegraaf's podcast.
It is no secret that Verstappen may decide to leave Red Bull if the team cannot offer him a winning car. What such a performance clause in the contract might look like is mere speculation, Albers also knows. "I think it says [that Red Bull must finish in the] top three. And I do see Red Bull continuously finishing in the top three. Max is not going to think, 'I'm going to lift.' That's not in his nature," Albers stated.
'Verstappen doesn't get what he has at Red Bull, anywhere else'
The current analyst argues, why would Verstappen switch teams at all? "Where does he get it so good? Because basically Red Bull is Max Verstappen. And if you start looking at that: Lewis [Hamilton] is a big man at Ferrari. But nobody is bigger than the Ferrari brand."
"The power and the power that Max, Jos [Verstappen] and [manager] Raymond [Vermeulen] have at Red Bull, I don't see them getting that so quickly at other big car manufacturers. i don't know if he's going to be happy with that," Albers states.
Moreover, the Dutchman believes that big partners like Ford and title sponsor Oracle are really on Red Bull's case to build a top car and thus keep Verstappen on board. "They are really not going to make it easy for Red Bull if Max Verstappen quits," believes the former F1 driver.
This article was written in collaboration with Norberto Mujica.
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