Ex-Mercedes chief Nick Fry claims Max Verstappen would still win “in a sh**box”
It doesn't matter what car you give Max Verstappen, he'd still come out on top, that's according to one ex-Mercedes man.
Ex-Mercedes CEO Nick Fry believes that Max Verstappen is clearly the class of the current crop of F1 drivers, claiming he’d beat his rivals “in a sh**box”.
Verstappen enjoyed a remarkable F1 2023 campaign, winning 19 of the 22 races.
He stormed to a third consecutive drivers’ title in a season where he broke numerous records.
Verstappen now sits third in the all-time F1 winners list, with only Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher sitting ahead of him.
While Red Bull once again had the best car in 2023, Verstappen’s dominant run has been unprecedented.
Fry - who was at Honda, then Brawn GP before staying with the team when they became Mercedes - thinks Verstappen is the standout driver on the grid.
“Unfortunately, I would have to say that Verstappen is showing that he is the best driver at the moment, and I don't think it would matter much, he told OLBG. “It could even play into his hands, because he’s shown he's good enough to be very adaptable and would probably drive any of the cars better than his competitors.
“I heard someone say once "If you can drive, you can drive anything". I don't think it would matter if you put Max in a sh**box or a Red Bull car, he'd probably still beat the rest of them. He's very adaptable. I don't think it would change much, sadly.
“If you started Max at the back of the grid, he'd still do better than most, but perhaps he wouldn't win. A lot of it is due to the car. Red Bull has the best driver and the best car.”
Fry’s comments come after he was posed the question what would happen if every driver on the grid had the same car.
The 67-year-old feels the idea of having a one-off race with all of the grid in equal cars simply isn’t practical.
“Johnny Herbert's idea of having a one-off race where everybody drives the same car would be a good one if it was practical,” he added.
“Those kinds of ideas have been toyed with in the past, but the issues lie in the sponsorships, which are so closely tied to drivers and cars. That's where it gets difficult.”
