Alonso, not Hamilton, has ’extra capacity’ - Verstappen

Max Verstappen says he and fellow two-time Fernando Alonso stand out from the crowd in terms of having "extra capacity" whilst racing their F1 cars on the limit.

In Barcelona last weekend, the Red Bull driver came on the radio to ask his engineer: "Someone’s phone is going - is that Helmut (Marko)’s?"

Gianpiero Lambiase replied: "Er, yes."

The 25-year-old driver, who looks set to cruise to a third consecutive drivers’ title this year, says another driver with this extra capacity is Alonso.

"I do like to think that having extra capacity is a big advantage in F1," Verstappen told the Times. "You cannot train that kind of thing. Only a few drivers have it."

When asked who, he answered: "For me, definitely Fernando.

"I can feel that, from the way he operates in the car, picking up on little things, showing this extra capacity - still driving at the limit but thinking about other stuff as well.

"You are talking to the engineer but I am also hearing a pitstop by a Ferrari. But if you are fully focused on your driving, you probably won’t pick it up because you are fully focused on his voice."

Verstappen was then asked if seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton has the same extra capacity.

"No, Fernando stands out more with that," he said.

"People will probably start hating me for that, but just that’s how I see it."