Damon Hill places Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz and George Russell together in one special category

Former F1 world champion Damon Hill reckons drivers like Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz and George Russell have shown a special ability to have the presence of mind and be authoritative on team radio.

Talking about a driver's presence of mind and ability to make decisions during races, Hill talked about how drivers have to be forceful at times when expressing their opinions.

Touching on the subject, the former Willimas driver took the example of what happened in Silverstone last season at Ferrari. Carlos Sainz was more forceful with the team, while Charles Leclerc was compliant. As a result, the Spaniard ended up winning the race, while Leclerc lost out.

Talking about that on the F1 Nation podcast, Hill said that it's where drivers like Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso tend to distinguish themselves:

“When you’ve got races where teams choose to put drivers on different strategies, and it can always be immensely frustrating to drivers, particularly if they’re in the later stages of a championship because a team might say something which is detrimental. So this is what happened with Charles Leclerc at Ferrari where he was not given preference, where he was given the wrong strategy, or the strategy that benefitted or covered the team from a competitive point of view."

He added:

“But it actually, from his point of view, put him at a disadvantage to his teammate because you got this lovely contradiction in our sport where you have two championships going at the same time and the teams run everything.

"So the drivers have very little control. And this is why you have Max, who is so forceful. And I’ve heard this, I’ve heard a similar thing coming from George Russell as well, which is he’s very forceful. You might even say Carlos Sainz at Ferrari; they direct to the team. And of course, Fernando Alonso."

Emphasising the importance of being forceful in such situations, Hill said:

“These drivers, they direct the team from the cockpit; they can swing it; if the team is not bothered either way then it’s possible to get what you want for your strategy for a particular race, but you have to think quickly.”

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Max Verstappen is known for being very demanding with his team

Max Verstappen is one of the drivers who has been known to be very demanding from his team.

Whether it's nailing the perfect strategy or finding the perfect place for him on the track, Max Verstappen tends to demand perfection from both himself and the team.

One of the prime examples of what was what happened in Singapore last season. The team miscalculated the fuel levels in qualifying, and the Red Bull driver was furious with what happened.