Alex Albon has identified a key reason which made Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso the formidable F1 world champions that they are today.
Max Verstappen is currently on the hunt for a fifth consecutive drivers’ championship in F1, whilst Fernando Alonso is in the midst of his 22nd season as an F1 driver, adding to his record tally of 416 Grand Prix entries.
Position Drivers’ Championship PointsPts 1 234 2 226 3 165 4 147 5 119
Verstappen’s road to the title this year is proving to be a tricky one due to the superiority of the McLaren MCL39. James Allen thinks Verstappen is able to best Lando Norris, but doesn’t quite have the same hold over Norris’ teammate and championship leader, Oscar Piastri.
Alonso doesn’t look like he’s slowing down in his pursuit of an elusive third world title. The Spaniard is signed up to drive for Aston Martin until the end of 2026, and with Adrian Newey leading the charge in development for next season’s car, he very well might achieve it.
READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend
Alex Albon believes Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso have ‘more mental capacity’ than most F1 drivers
As a guest on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Alex Albon was prompted by host Tom Clarkson with a quote from Andrea Stella in which he stated that modern F1 cars are too quick for drivers to think in, meaning they have to rely on their instincts.
Albon replied, “I wouldn’t say they’re too quick to think in. I think the best drivers in the world have the capacity that it’s always slow to them. The more mental capacity you have to drive, you can think about other things, such as maximising the corner, the lap, the tyres, whatever it is.
“I think consistently, the best drivers in the world are the ones that have the most thinking time, the most brain capacity. You think about Max looking at the TV as he’s going past. You look at Fernando thinking about strategy, 15 laps in front of him.”
Verstappen has previously stated the respect he has for Alonso, citing him as the reason he would turn his TV on to watch Grands Prix when he was younger and highlighting the Spaniard as someone he ‘admires a lot’.
READ MORE: Williams star Alex Albon’s life outside F1 with net worth, girlfriend to parents
Jacques Villeneuve identified what Max Verstappen needs to do for his career to be considered better than Fernando Alonso’s
Jacques Villeneuve recently compared the two drivers whilst ranking who the greatest F1 champion is in the history of the sport.
The 1997 world champion opted for Alonso over Verstappen, noting the 43-year-old’s accolades in other racing categories as the reason for the pick. With four world championships and 65 wins across an 11-year career in F1, there’s no doubt that the Dutchman deserves to be in these sorts of conversations.
Photo by Mark Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
The 27-year-old’s passion for all types of racing categories is no secret, with Verstappen taking part in a GT3 test under the alias ‘Franz Hermann’ between the Miami and Imola race weekends in a bid to get a Nordschleife permit so he can take part in a future iteration of the 24 Hours of Nurburgring.
Also, amid rumours of him wanting out of his current contract at Red Bull, it has been reported that Mercedes could offer Verstappen a seat in their proposed LMDH car following more discussions about the team joining the hypercar class within the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in the future.