Max Verstappen team-mate verdict revealed with shock Red Bull talks

Four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen could have had a very different team-mate in the past, but Ralf Schumacher believes Red Bull may have missed a trick after an admission from Helmut Marko.

Red Bull recently confirmed the team were looking at Nico Hulkenberg as an option when they were previously searching for a replacement for Alex Albon in 2020, but should Christian Horner's outfit consider the German racer again?

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Ultimately, the team opted to go with Sergio Perez for the 2021 season onwards, and the Mexican racer helped the team claim two consecutive constructors' championships in 2022 and 2023, winning five grands prix with the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

In the 2020 season, Perez drove brilliantly well with Racing Point and claimed his first career victory at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix.

Hulkenberg, meanwhile, was out of a full-time seat, but completed two races with Racing Point as a stand-in driver, collecting 10 points and proving he had what it took to compete in F1 full-time once more.

That full-time opportunity finally came in 2023 with Haas, and the German racer has not looked back ever since, going from strength to strength with Haas before being snapped up by Sauber ahead of their transition into Audi.

Now, fellow German racer Ralf Schumacher has given his view on Hulkenberg's second coming in F1, even suggesting he could be Verstappen's ideal team-mate at Red Bull.

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"You have to be honest and say that Nico has also made his development like all of us in life," Schumacher told the Backstage Boxengasse podcast. "He is now a father, 37, I think, so from that point of view, you see things a bit more relaxed.

"It may sound a little strange but in Formula 1 he is experiencing a second spring, so to be able to come back and still have his place and still be able to perform at his best is going perfectly."

Schumacher and co-host Peter Hardenacke then discussed how Marko recently confirmed Hulkenberg's talks with Red Bull before they landed on Perez in 2020, with Schumacher boldly suggesting he’d still support Hulkenberg teaming up with Verstappen.

"Dr. Helmut Marko said it was also good that they decided on Perez at the end of 2020 and not on Nico Hulkenberg," he continued.

"Who knows what else would have been possible, although I would have liked to see it now, I also believe that Nico would have played a good role in a life at Red Bull with Max Verstappen."

"I also think that because the two get along well, Max would have taken to him even more," Schumacher added, perhaps in a commentary over the Dutchman's previous team-mates.

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