Netherlands 'divided'
The repeat successes of Max Verstappen in 2023 have generated a split in Dutch public opinion, especially regarding how the Red Bull driver's career may evolve in the coming years. For Tom Coronelfor example, no one can currently counter the three-time world champion, to the point of believing that all the other drivers, barring a disruption in the potential of the rival single-seaters, will just make up the numbers until Verstappen retires.
Albers' experience
However, he is not of this opinion Christian Albers. Also of Dutch nationality, he took part in three consecutive championships from 2005 to 2007, becoming the last Minardi driver (together with his compatriot Robert Doornbos) before joining Midland and Spyker, scoring a total of only 4 points in his career . Once his experience on the track was over, the 44-year-old from Eindhoven was Caterham's Team Principal for a few months in 2014.
It's not just Verstappen
Recently, Albers wrote in his own column for the newspaper De Telegraaf indicating his feelings while waiting for the next championship. His hope is that Mercedes can field a W15 that can allow Hamilton to return to the fight with Verstappen, being in his opinion the only driver capable of holding a duel with the three-time world champion: “I'm talking above all about the quality of being able to provide consistent performance and to be very stable in lap times during a race – commented – Hamilton, like Verstappen, is someone who he knows how to manage the tires excellently. By evaluating certain situations and feeling the rubber, the two of them are alone at the top in this respect.”
What Hamilton missed
Albers also understands the period of crisis that the seven-time world champion is experiencing, who has been without victories for two years and previously was the author of a golden period that lasted almost uninterruptedly from 2014 to 2021: “It's something that gnaws at you – he added – Lewis always wants more, but comes up against the fact that Mercedes isn't going any faster. Then at the end of the year you are devastated and tired. That push she needed in a certain moment of fury she didn't have for a while. That supremacy has now disappeared.”
#Albers #Hamilton #close #Verstappen
