“You can’t live in a fairytale world,” Max Verstappen believes ‘second drivers’ must accept their role and the superiority of the other driver
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Max Verstappen
‘Second drivers’ are drivers that take a ‘secondary’ role in the team’s racing, with the more favourable strategies and decisions going towards the ‘first driver’. There have been many notable examples of these second drivers – Rubens Barrichello for Michael Schumacher at Ferrari, Valtteri Bottas for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, and even Sergio Perez for Max Verstappen at Red Bull.
It’s not an easy job – you have to fundamentally accept the superiority of the other driver in order to be one (which is definitely not easy for an F1 driver, or any sportsperson) and concede to the team’s wishes that may compromise your own race (and championship). All three of the above-mentioned drivers have had to concede position to their ‘better’ teammates on more than one occasion.
But the current two-time world champion Max Verstappen believes that this is necessary for the drivers’ survival in Formula 1. Bottas drove five seasons with Mercedes, and it’s not exactly a secret that he was the ‘second driver’. Taking the current Alfa Romeo man’s example, the Dutchman said to Viaplay: “Every year he starts fresh, but after a few races you realise it’s not going to happen again and you accept your role.”
It was always going to be hard to compete against someone like Hamilton: some drivers are just a class apart. By accepting his role, Bottas was still able to tick a few boxes: “He [Bottas] still finished on podiums, he won a few races and took pole positions. You just have to accept that the driver next to you is just a bit better. That’s fine, that can happen.” he said, as per Motorsport Week.
Also Read: Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen reveals he ‘struggles to watch’ NASCAR due to this reason
Max Verstappen: Important that Valtteri Bottas accepted his ‘second driver’ role
In the early parts of the 2022 season, it even looked as if Sergio Perez would challenge Max Verstappen, but that soon faded away, partly due to misfortune, partly due to the car suiting the Dutchman better than it did at the beginning of the season, and partly due to pure performance. The Mexican driver has stated multiple times that he wants to be a world champion.
Verstappen did not name any names (his statement may just as well be pointed at another driver) but he thinks that second drivers have to accept their role, partly for their own sake: “It’s important that he accepted it. Some drivers can’t do that and then it goes completely wrong. Then they don’t survive for very long. I’m not going to name names, but you have to accept your role. You can’t live in a fairytale world.”
While Bottas was not able to win championships at Mercedes, he regularly scored podiums and even wins on some occasions. But while his achievements at Mercedes are likely to shadow those at his other teams, it’s clear that he’s happier at Alfa Romeo with a lot of the ‘pressure off’, where at least in 2022, he led the project and the car development.
Also Read: Max Verstappen’s car collection : A look into the 2 time world champion’s spectacular garage
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