“It is a tough environment. And when you come here and you have some success at the beginning of your career, and maybe you are not the good guy, if I can say [that]. And maybe you are not politically correct.
“You are not in the system. You are more yourself than what you should be. And I think it’s what I saw in Max as well.
“A part of that strong personality, the results and the talent, not only in F1, also in the junior categories and from karting already that we all knew that it was this kid coming. In my case, I had always a lot of respect [for Verstappen].”
One could suggest that Verstappen has enjoyed the title success that Alonso perhaps should have had. Beyond their maiden years, their career paths have varied significantly; Verstappen has spent his decade in F1 glued to the Red Bull ecosystem, while Alonso spent his first 10 years hopping around from Renault, to McLaren, to Renault again, before joining Ferrari.
Furthermore, Alonso never truly got the chance to jump into a dominant car across his time in F1; both title wins with Renault were achieved on the back of thrilling year-long scraps with Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher respectively. Alonso came close to two titles with Ferrari, but both ended in agonising defeat to Sebastian Vettel in the superior Red Bull machinery.
Verstappen conceded that, as a Red Bull driver today, it was perhaps “funny” that Alonso’s underdog status had led him to cheer for the then-Ferrari driver in the 2010s versus Vettel.
Pole Man Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin F1 Team, in Parc Ferme after Qualifying
“What I like is that Fernando’s mentality and just general personality is just himself, which I think is just very nice to deal with. You see what you get,” Verstappen responded.
“Before I was in Formula 1 – it might sound a bit funny, but when Fernando was fighting against Red Bull, I was cheering for him to do a good job: being that underdog and still getting these results and dragging the car to wins when he shouldn’t.
“It attracts you as a driver, you like what you see is a proper fighter. And he still is. I mean, I have a lot of respect for what Fernando is still doing at his age.
“It’s very nice to see [someone] have that much passion for the sport.”
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