Max Verstappen praised his friendship with Fernando Alonso, and revealed that he was happy to be friends with a born winner.
Alonso is a veteran of the sport and one of the best drivers the sport has ever seen. He has been an inspiration to many young racers, with one of them being the Red Bull driver himself.
The Spaniard is a big fan of his young counterpart, and has repeatedly gone on record to say how much he rates him. He was among the happiest when the Dutchman became world champion, and was among the first to congratulate him for his achievement.
Verstappen praised his friendship with Alonso, and credited the two-time world champion for his mentality and attitude.
“At the moment, I have a really good friendship with Fernando because already, when I was still in go karting, I really liked his style,” the 24-year-old said in an exclusive interview on the CarNext YouTube channel.
“He’s also ‘never give up’ and a real fighter. Of course unfortunately now in the last few years he hasn’t been able to do that at the front, just because he doesn’t have the car.
“But I like his attitude. He’s really on fire. And also his drive and motivation at his age, to still be there in Formula 1, wanting to be there for a longer time, and he always wants to win.
“He always wants to do the best (he can). For me, that’s really nice to see.”
Let’s race
The two drivers have never really had battles on track, with Alonso often fighting in the midfield and Verstappen doing battle higher up. The latter expressed his wish to duel with the Alpine driver in front, and stated that he was someone who deserved that chance again.
When asked if things would change if Alonso is up there with him, Verstappen replied, “Of course, then it’s a different story.
“But we will still be respecting each other a lot, but I would like to see him back at the front, you know. He really deserves it and of course he’s a two-time World Champion.
“But like I said, it’s also really nice just to talk to him and see how he thinks about situations.”
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