A Red Bull insider has opened up on how Max Verstappen’s formidable nature makes him a difficult driver to drive alongside.
Liam Lawson is reportedly set to be axed by Red Bull and that comes after Sergio Perez struggled alongside the Dutchman.
Speaking on the High Performance podcast, Red Bull ambassador and former power unit technician Calum Nicholas said: “I think one of the things that Max has never been worried about is anyone going faster than him. He knows how skilled he is, and it’s a bit of a luxury for him – he knows, if you can find that lap time, he can find a bit more.
“I think, more than anything, it’s resilience. What we’ve seen, certainly with Max’s team-mates over the years, is I think what they struggle with is how resilient Max is.
“Like if you have a bad weekend where the car is not great, Max will drag something out of it. I think, for a lot of the drivers that have sat alongside him in the garage, it’s really hard to see.
“It’s really hard to sort of suck up – you might go out and put a great lap in and you think, ‘God, I’ve dragged the most out of that car’, and then Max will find two-tenths on you. Mentally, it really takes its toll on people around him through no fault of Max’s. He’s just there to go the quickest. But it’s a tough one for people to swallow.”