Verstappen, who is currently seventh in the Drivers’ Championship standings, has made no attempt to hide his disdain for the current set of regulations. Those concerns have been echoed by Alonso, a long-standing ally of the Dutchman who remains adamant that he is the best driver on the grid.
Alonso recently questioned the fairness of F1, given that Verstappen won’t be challenging at the top of the leaderboard despite being one of the greatest drivers in the sport’s history.
“Max Verstappen is the best driver on the grid and this year he’s going to finish fifth or sixth,” said the Spaniard. “I don’t know if F1 is a bit unfair in that sense, but there’s no need to waste time explaining to people who don’t want to understand.”
Those comments have since been addressed by 1997 world champion Damon Hill, who was quick to dismiss Alonso’s remarks on social media. He said: “What a load of rubbish! I strongly disagree with FA here.”
In recent weeks, Verstappen has been linked with a potential move away from Red Bull, with McLaren touted as a potential destination.
It’s widely known that he has an exit clause in his deal that would allow him to walk away from Red Bull if certain performance targets are not met.
He was recently urged to be ‘selfish’ by one-time world champion Jenson Button, who believes a clean break may be the smartest course of action.
“A lot of people he’s worked with for many years and won championships with have left and gone elsewhere,” said Button on the Sky Sports F1 podcast.
“It must be very strange. It must feel kind of a bit lonely with in that team for him. Everyone’s brand new around him. So I think he’ll be looking elsewhere. Yeah, I really do.”