Verstappen Could Have Been Even Quicker In 2023 Says Jordan

Friday, 19 January 2024 at 15:00

In a recent episode of his podcast, Eddie Jordan stated that Max Verstappen could have been even quicker had he been pushed by his teammate.

The only driver that we have seen compared to Max Verstappen over the period of the last three seasons is Sergio Perez, and he lost out to the Dutchman every single season.

The triple World Champion beat his teammate by more than 100 points on each occasion. What's more, he beat the 33-year-old by almost 300 points in 2023.

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Looking at the season's results, it seems like the Mexican driver didn't pose much of a threat to his teammate. Eddie Jordan believes this indicates that Verstappen could have been even faster. He said on the Formula For Success podcast:

"I think a very strong team-mate is exactly what you want. And I just would like to say, with the same analogy, if Checo was quicker, I think we would have seen even a quicker Max, that’s the thing, because I don’t think he pushed himself."

After losing a second race to Perez in Azerbaijan, the triple World Champion allegedly stated he would never get beaten again by him this year. And he was right.

The Flying Dutchman dominated for the rest of the season, and as a matter of fact, after his Azerbaijan statement, he went on to break the record for the most consecutive wins in a single season.

"When Lewis is talking about 17 seconds down the road, that’s 17 seconds down the road without even having to be pushed!"

The Former team owner asserted finishing 17 seconds ahead of everybody means nothing when the Dutchman is still managing his pace in the front. He added:

"So now let’s put it in the right context, because it’s one thing [being] out there in the front, you’re minding your tyres, you don’t necessarily…as you [Coulthard] have always said, you win the race in the slowest possible time."