Max Verstappen 'regrets' not having raced against Fernando Alonso

Red Bull's Max Verstappen has expressed regret over not being able to race against retired Formula One driver Fernando Alonso.

The 21-year-old said that he grew up watching Alonso taking on the legends of Formula One, but never had the opportunity to race against him.

"It's a shame that I have never been able to face him. Yes, he was in F1 when I got there, but I was never able to fight with him because he was at the back of the pack because of the problems they (McLaren) had. That is something I may regret," Sport24 quoted Verstappen, as saying.

"I raced Seb, I raced Lewis and it was a great experience, but I never raced Fernando. And it had always been him who was fighting against the others when I watched the races on TV," he added.

In August, Alonso had announced that he would bid adieu to racing at the end of the ongoing season. Considered as one of the greatest Formula One drivers, he won the F1 World Championship titles with Renault in 2005 and 2006.

Earlier this week, he raced his last F1 race, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where he finished on the 11th spot.

In a career spanning 17 years, the McLaren driver appeared for 302 career races. He won 22 pole positions, 32 races besides also making a staggering 97 finishes.