Alex Albon values Max Verstappen 'not hiding anything' | Planet F1

Alex Albon has expanded on the “open” nature of his relationship in the Red Bull team with Max Verstappen, whom he appreciates for “not hiding anything”.

The London-born Thai driver recently praised Verstappen for not creating “politics”, with the Dutchman having also been perfectly clear in an interview during which he said whoever was his team-mate he would “beat them all”.

But although that may not be what Albon wants to hear as he strives to match his Red Bull colleague’s pace, he at least is convinced that Verstappen is not doing anything behind his back.

“Everyone at this kind of stage in motorsport, they keep it to themselves,” Albon told Autosport. “Nobody’s going to be accommodating to each other.

“But at the same time he’s definitely not hiding anything. There’s no kind of political nature about him, not in the slightest. He’s very open in how he speaks.

“We have similar feedback about the car, which is really important as well.

“It’s an open book, so in our engineering meetings and everything I think it’s good because we have our discussions.

“We speak openly about what we need in the car and it tends to go in the same direction. So it’s nice in that sense.”

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Albon also believes there are benefits of having a team-mate who is as quick as Verstappen, with the 23-year-old having been the only non-Mercedes driver to have won a grand prix this season on sheer performance alone.

Asked if he felt having a team-mate like Verstappen was a blessing or a pain, Albon said: “It’s both because you’re obviously against him as one of, if not the, quickest guy out on the track.

“He’s on the limit, all the time. From FP1 to the race. So of course you’re always going to have a tough time to be up against him.

“But at the same time, the way I see it is that you’ve got pretty much the best data as well to look at.

“I’m experienced in the sense that I’ve done a year now, but in the global sense of it I’m still learning and still getting up to speed.

“So to be able to look over and see where Max is quick and how he gets his lap time, it’s also very good as a racing driver to be able to see that and improve yourself on that.”

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