Departing AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost believes Sebastian Vettel would win more races than Max Verstappen, in a fantasy team.
Tost was recently asked what his dream pairing would be in F1, with him stating that he’d like to see Vettel and Verstappen alongside each other.
The departing team boss knows both drivers from when they raced for Red Bull’s sister side, as he’s been their team principal for the past 18 years.
Tost became AlphaTauri boss when the team entered F1 in 2006, with ex-Ferrari race director Laurent Mekies taking his place for 2024.
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Vettel raced for the team from mid-2007 until the end of 2008 before being promoted to Red Bull; however, his first win came whilst with the Faenza-based squad.
The four-time World Champion won the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, to secure what was the team’s first win.
Verstappen raced for them from 2015 until the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, when like Vettel, he was promoted to Red Bull.
However, unlike the German, Verstappen failed to win a race for the sister team.
The three-time World Champion has since gone onto claim more F1 wins than Vettel, though, whilst he also broke the retired driver’s record of nine consecutive victories.
Verstappen and Vettel would be a formidable duo, as they are both very fast but also “very passionate” about racing.
“Vettel and Max – because of their dedication to the sport and their speed,” Tost said on the Beyond the Grid podcast.
“They know how to win races and they also bring all the factors with them, what you need to win races.
“This is, first of all, the talent. You must be highly skilled for driving such a car. Second, the passion. Both of them are very passionate.
“Look at Max, he is driving this e-car series and all this kind of stuff. Isn’t this fantastic? A three-time Formula 1 world champion and at home he is racing against others on the computer.
“Then they are disciplined. They know exactly when and what they have to do.
“The discipline is a very, very important factor, and then to study the rivals, to find out where are the deficiencies and to work on this to beat them.
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“These are the factors both of these drivers have, 100 per cent.”
As for who’d come out on top, Tost believes Verstappen would have the edge in qualifying but thinks Vettel would claim more race victories.
“Could be Sebastian,” Tost said, when asked who’d win more races.