F1 News: Max Verstappen Names "Best Driver Line-Up" On The Grid
Max Verstappen thinks that McLaren boys Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris form the best driver line-up on the grid as Red Bull's competitors. The claim comes days after Oscar Piastri won the first Sprint race for McLaren last weekend in Qatar.
Speaking of Qatar, both McLaren drivers scored consecutive double podiums this season, bringing down the time gap between the Papaya car and Verstappen's RB19 to just five seconds.
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The Dutch driver is of the opinion that not only has McLaren declared itself as the most consistent intimidation to the Red Bull establishment, but it also sports the strongest driver pairing among the other teams closing in on the Red Bull.
Speaking of the latest threat, Verstappen told the media:
"I do think that as a team they [McLaren] are probably the most consistent, compared to the others behind us.
"I do think they have the best driver line-up out of all of them, so they are operating really well.
"It's going to be interesting to the end of the year, but also I think the start of next year to see where everyone is at."
Red Bull Press Image
The Qatar GP weekend also witnessed Verstappen not being as dominant as he used to be early in the season. A closing in of the pack, particularly from McLaren and Mercedes seems quite evident and the world champion isn't holding himself from giving due credit. He added:
"I do think we had a bit more pace in hand if we really needed it but nevertheless, I don't want to take anything away from McLaren.
"They've been doing a great job and from us, we see that they are getting closer and closer, so we have to try and maintain a bit of a gap.
"McLaren is making great steps forward throughout the whole year. From our side, we’ll try to improve a little bit this year, but of course mainly for next year."
McLaren's latest achievements have helped close the gap between Aston Martin in fourth place by just eleven points. With another five Grands Prix to go before the season concludes, there are chances of the team catching up with Ferrari as well in third.
McLaren Press Image