Gasly has no chance of beating Verstappen, says former F1 driver

Former F1 driver Robert Doornbos offered his two cents on countryman Max Verstappen's prospects for 2019 and the Dutchman's Red Bull Racing team mate Pierre Gasly.

Appearing on Ziggo Sport's Peptalk TV show, Doornbos, who raced for Minardi in 2005 and who also enjoyed a handful of outings with Red Bull in 2006, believes Verstappen will know straight out of the box whether he'll be winning or not this year.

"Max will know immediately how successful the new car can be, so I’ll be curious to see his face after a couple of laps behind the wheel," said Doornbos.

"If he is disappointed straight away, Max won't hide it. He’ll immediately be punching the table with his fist.”

"Last year, the car was one of the best on the grid, if not the best. It’s important that the Honda engine is reliable and not inferior to Ferrari and Mercedes.

"If it is good enough, Max will get good results, because last year his engine was down 70hp."

• Failure not an option for Red Bull, if Verstappen is to stay - Button

Doornbos also said he wasn't impressed by Gasly's claim that he has no intention of racing in his team mate's impressive shadow at Red Bull, and suggested the Frenchman should keep a low profile at the outset.

"Pierre said that he isn't at Red Bull to be the second driver, but I think it’s better he kept quiet," he added.

"He has a chance to be in a top team, but at the moment I think it’s better not to attract too much attention. Because he has no chance next to Verstappen.

"Of course, there are not many drivers in the paddock who would like to be Max’s team-mate. Lewis Hamilton might talk about it, but it won’t happen."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter