Christijan Albers predicts ‘fireworks’ if Max Verstappen became F1 teammates with former karting rival

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Max Verstappen’s future has been a widely discussed topic in the Formula 1 paddock this season, but his full focus will be on the next five race weekends.

No F1 fan would have ever ruled Max Verstappen completely out of contention for the drivers’ championship at any point this season.

However, as soon as Oscar Piastri won the Red Bull driver’s home race at Zandvoort and his lead jumped over 100 points, it looked incredibly unlikely that the battle for the drivers’ championship was anything but a two-horse race.

What has followed has been near perfection from Verstappen, only dropping points since that moment when George Russell won the Singapore Grand Prix.

Verstappen would win a fifth title this year, and while that would make him even more grateful for the support Red Bull have given him, the upcoming F1 regulation changes represent a near-total reset in the pecking order.

There are question marks about how competitive Red Bull will be in 2026, leading Verstappen to be linked with several teams on the grid.

Mercedes have held an interest in Verstappen for a long time, and it’s even been suggested that Zak Brown would explore a move to hire Verstappen if the opportunity arose to bring him to McLaren.

After the United States Grand Prix, former F1 driver Christijan Albers was speaking about the 28-year-old and admitted Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc would produce ‘fireworks’ if he ended up being Verstappen’s teammate in the future.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Christijan Albers predicts ‘fireworks’ if Max Verstappen became teammates with Charles Leclerc

Albers was speaking on De Telegraaf’s F1 podcast after the race at COTA, where Leclerc did Verstappen a huge favour by holding up Lando Norris for the first 21 laps.

The Dutchman explained: “But you have to imagine, of course, that you’re driving a car behind another car.

“Well, that just means that Norris’ tyre temperature is much higher. And when you see the lap times he can drive and how close he can stay behind, yes, that shows that McLaren is still in a different league to Red Bull in terms of racing.

“Only, yes, that’s a bit clouded by the fact that Leclerc is holding things up. And then it’s super impressive how Leclerc fights and how he drives and how he keeps those tyres alive.

“When you see that traction on those soft tyres coming out of slow corners at Ferrari, they’ve really got it right there.

“But it’s just medium and high speed [corners] everywhere, and that car is just nothing.

Van Haren: “Yes, but he was a good teammate for Verstappen!”

Albers: “Yes, I think there would be really serious fireworks in that team when those two are together!”

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Could Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen ever end up as Formula 1 teammates?

Both Leclerc and Verstappen have been linked with changing teams in the not-too-distant future.

Verstappen and Leclerc have been rivals since their karting days, but have never truly fought against each other for an F1 world championship, even if the Monegasque driver finished second in the standings in 2022.

Verstappen has been linked with a move to Ferrari, and would be the ultimate replacement for Lewis Hamilton when he retires.

The Dutchman is also embarking on more endurance opportunities outside of F1, and Ferrari’s World Endurance Championship team are one of the heavy hitters in the sport.

On top of this, Leclerc has been linked with Red Bull, although it’s hard to see Verstappen agreeing to such a strong driver being in the garage next to him going forward.

If the pair did come together, they would immediately be the strongest team on the grid.

Whether it will ever happen is another matter entirely.