Verstappen says he could be Leclerc's teammate
Max Verstappen says he would be happy to be Charles Leclerc's teammate in Formula 1.
It is a scintillating prospect, as the young duo - both 21 - are regarded as the cream of the sport's exciting new generation of drivers.
"There are so many drivers who in just a few years have written Formula 1 history," former F1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "But the new generation is fast approaching. If I was a team manager, I would definitely bet on Leclerc and Verstappen," he said.
It is reported in Italy that Ferrari is about to boost Leclerc's contracted EUR 3 million salary for 2020 by a factor of three, up to EUR 9m.
As for Verstappen, he is happy at Red Bull-Honda but not yet committed beyond 2020.
"The most important thing is that we get a car with which we can become world champion," Verstappen's father Jos Verstappen told Ziggo Sport on Monday.
"But there's nothing going on right now. We are concentrating on 2020 and then we will look."
For his part, Max said he would have no problem teaming up with Leclerc.
"Charles and I could get along at the same team," said the Dutchman.
"We both want to win, but we respect each other. I won't deny that there could be conflicts, but it wouldn't be like Hamilton and Rosberg at Mercedes," Verstappen insisted.
Jos agrees that the Verstappen camp is "not afraid" of Leclerc, who scored back-to-back wins at Spa and Monza.
"We've known Leclerc for a long time. Max has been racing him for a long time," he said.
"He is a fast driver and I think it's really nice that in the coming years we will see a fight between Hamilton, Verstappen and Leclerc. That's good for the sport," added Jos.
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Verstappen says he could be Leclerc's teammate
If his opinion in the matter was one that matters most I'd consider this a serious statement.
As the matters stand, this belongs to the sphere of wishful thinking.
Hope so, what a team 2 of the best 3 drivers driving the same car always proves exciting
There is no place for two equally talented young drivers in the same team, as this would lead to trouble within the company . Those two will be involved in serious battle for supremacy and there would be no respect between them as they will fight each other as gladiators and there is only one victor in the duel .In spite of all this, fans would like to see Leclerc and Max as team mates.
Jos Verstappen should not be telling his son what to do. Jos was not so good in a f1 car many years ago, so why is it he thinks he can tell Max what to do????
Why? Presumably because he has an inflated opinion of himself and he is Max's father. Hamilton's career several years ago was on the rocks and Lewis became controversial and disliked by many. It turned out his father was dabbling in being his manager. Once the father was sidelined Lewis was back on track. Jos, unfortunately, is not an easy man to shut up.