F1: Fernando Alonso reveals why he wouldn’t want to compete with Max Verstappen

Former champion Alonso believes Verstappen could take Hamilton’s crown as the best driver in the sport

Alonso doesn’t want to compete with Verstappen (Getty Images)

Formula One driver Fernando Alonso says he wouldn’t want to compete with Max Verstappen at Red Bull.

Alonso thinks no one can compete with the Dutchman, who is currently leading the F1 title race as he is five points ahead of rival Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen’s teammates have struggled against him, with Daniel Ricciardo having left Red Bull and Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon failing to match the 23-year-old’s performances, while current teammate Sergio Perez is having his own issues.

“At the moment, he’s the only one that I will not be happy to maybe compete [with],” Alonso told RacingNews365.com.

“I respect Max a lot. At the moment, in the Red Bull environment with his team, with his experience there, I don’t think that many drivers can join Red Bull and beat Max. If you took Max out of Red Bull, maybe you [would] have a better chance.”

Alonso knows Verstappen’s rival Hamilton well as they were teammates at McLaren in 2007 and the Spaniard believes the Dutchman could take the Briton’s crown as the best driver in the F1.

He added: “His improvement was very noticeable in the first couple of years. He started already at a high level but, sometimes, making a few accidents here and there, maybe too much aggression in some of the movements and things like that.

“Now I think he reached a level of maturity that is very high and, with his natural speed, it becomes quite difficult to beat him for anyone. So I think he’s the favourite for this year and probably for the years to come.”

Verstappen and Hamilton have crashed twice this season, at Silverstone and Monza, with the latter meaning the title race leader has a three-place grid penalty at Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix.