Max Verstappen is cruising to victories at the expense of team-mate Sergio Perez at the moment, but that could be about to change.
Max Verstappen could soon have a new team-mate at Red Bull (Image: Getty)
F1 race winner Johnny Herbert has suggested that Max Verstappen is bored of dominating team-mate Sergio Perez, hinting that the Dutchman would be open to having a more competitive team-mate such as Lando Norris or Lewis Hamilton in a move that would pile on the stress for the Red Bull hierarchy.
The Milton Keynes-based team are on course to comfortably retain their Constructors’ Championship title for the second season running and are enjoying the straightforward nature of the power dynamic between Perez and Verstappen.
Helmut Marko had previously addressed the idea of partnering Verstappen with a more competitive team-mate, telling Motorsport-Magazin: “With Norris, I could well imagine that, with Hamilton, I find it more difficult. That would certainly be ideal for the audience, television and journalists, but not for team leadership and success.
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“We as a team want to win the World Championship. It’s better if you have a certain hierarchy where it’s clear who is – I don’t want to say number 1 driver, but who is clearly faster.”
However, comments from Herbert suggest that Verstappen would welcome the challenge of facing off against the likes of Norris and Hamilton thanks to his nature as a true racing fan.
The Dutchman is currently in a league of his own having recorded his ninth successive race win on home soil last weekend, extending his championship lead to a mammoth 138 points.
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Lewis Hamilton is still hunting for his eighth world title (Image: Getty)
Speaking to CasinoSite.nl, Herbert explained: “Christian Horner has made it clear that Red Bull have no intention of letting up and not dominating the sport. That worries me. That is a mentality I understand but from the racing point of view, it is not a good thing if all they want to do is dominate.
“We want to make the sport better. I would have thought Max is probably bored out of his skull. It is lovely winning and dominating but it is not challenging. And Max is the type of character that wants to be challenged. No-one is able to do that.
“You can say it’s up to everyone else to raise their game to create what Red Bull have created. As an ex-racer I’d want to be pushed and tested and challenged, I’d want to race. I wouldn’t want to just disappear into the distance. It is nice every now and again.”
