Max Verstappen alongside now former Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez (Image: Getty)
A mechanic has opened up about how relentlessness takes its toll on teammates. The four-time F1 champion is a renowned teammate destroyer, with numerous stars being pummelled by the Dutchman’s speed over the years.
, and, most recently, have all been put to the sword and have moved on – or been moved on – as a result. mechanic Calum Nicholas has lifted the lid on what makes Verstappen such a fearsome teammate.
Speaking on the podcast with Jake Humphrey, he said: “More than anything, it’s resilience. What we’ve seen, certainly with Max’s teammates over the years, what they struggle with is how resilient Max is.
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“You can have a bad weekend where the car’s not great and he will drag something out of it. For a lot of the drivers who have sat alongside him in the garage, it’s really hard to see.
“It’s really hard to suck up. You might go out and put a great lap in and think, ‘I’ve dragged the most out of that car’, then Max will find two-tenths [of a second] on you.
“Mentally, that really takes its toll on people around him, through no fault of Max’s. He’s just there to go the quickest, but it’s a tough one [for them] to swallow sometimes.”
Red Bull mechanic Calum Nicholas works closely with Verstappen (Image: Getty)
Nicholas also revealed what Verstappen dislikes the most as an F1 driver. Unsurprisingly, it is his media commitments. He revealed: “The thing that Max dislikes the most is all the media requirements. And I hear him. Max would quite happily just arrive, get in the car, do his job.”
The next driver faced with the task of driving alongside Verstappen is Liam Lawson, who replaced Ricciardo in the sister RB (now Racing Bulls) team last season before after the Mexican was let go following an awful 2024 season. Verstappen and Lawson will be in attendance when F1 holds a season launch event at London’s O2 on Tuesday, February 18.
The event will see all 10 teams unveil their liveries for the 2025 season, which begins with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne over the weekend of March 15 and 16. Verstappen will be looking to retain his title but will face strong competition from last year’s constructors’ champions, , and .