Formula 1: 5 replacement candidates for Sebastian Vettel in 2021

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen would present Ferrari with two things, one good and one bad. The good one is the more obvious one; he is another potential world champion who has already achieved a ton of success in Formula 1 even though he is still only 22 years old.

The bad one is the fact that he would certainly not be willing to concede the number one driver role to Charles Leclerc, a role that Leclerc has illustrated on multiple occasions as Sebastian Vettel’s teammate in 2019 that he also isn’t willing to concede.

Of course, there is a positive aspect in this as well. While Verstappen initially was considered crash-prone, thus earning himself the unwanted nicknames “Vercrashen” and “Crashstappen”, he has been far more in-form than Vettel over the last two seasons as far as his clean driving habits are concerned.

So it would be two legitimate top-tier drivers battling for race wins at Ferrari as opposed to one hindering the other via poor on-track decisions, including some circumstances that have led to disaster, and disobeying of team instructions.

Still, Ferrari may seek to avoid the headache of having two young talented alpha drivers within the team competing at the highest level in the red cars on Sundays to avoid any kind of other drama that may ensue.

Then again, Verstappen has stated that he would be fine as Leclerc’s teammate, and if Red Bull Racing do not improve in the 2020 season, a contract year for Verstappen, he could very well and perhaps even should seek other options.