F1 News

How Verstappen is slowly being pushed toward the F1 exit

Published

1y ago

Apr 16, 2023 / 4216 Views

Evan Walker

As a Formula 1 World Champion, and the new man to beat, Max Verstappen's words carry a greater deal of weight, especially with only two other champions currently active on the grid.

Verstappen's responsibilities often come with a healthy helping of no-nonsense straight talking, and when he says he won't be racing in F1 into his 40s like Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and perhaps Lewis Hamilton, that's as a cast iron guarantee as there can be.

And he is also a purist in that he believes the sanctity of a traditional Grand Prix weekend should be respected - and is not a fan of the Sprint races, even through he's won three of the six held to date.

Recent comments from F1 chief Stefano Domenicali were wrongly interpreted as him wanting to do away with practice, with the Italian instead open to the idea of revamping those sessions, perhaps incentivising them for teams and drivers.

And with all this change about as F1 tries to keep itself ahead of the curve, Verstappen is one of those doubtful, believing the "DNA" of the series is at risk with the upcoming format changes for the Sprint weekend in Baku.

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"I don't find that it's the DNA of F1 to do these kind of Sprint races," he told media including RacingNews365.

"F1 is about getting the most out of it in qualifying and then having an amazing Sunday. That's the DNA of the sport and I don't understand why we should change that.

"Because I think the action [on-track] has been good, and how do we get even more action is about getting the cost closer, getting more teams able to fight for the win.

"I think naturally the show will be great. If we have six, seven teams already fighting for win, that will be insane.

"When we're going to do all that kind of stuff, the weekend becomes even more intense and we're already doing so many races. I think that is not the right way to go about it.

"I understand they want to have basically everyday exciting, but then I think maybe it's better to just reduce the weekend; only race and Saturday and Sunday and make those two days exciting.

"Because we're heading into seasons where you have at one point 24 or 25 races, if you then start adding even more stuff, it's not worth it for me. I'm not enjoying that."

Where could he end up if he leaves F1?

So, less than enthusiastic words from the double World Champion, but if he does opt to leave Grand Prix racing - where could one of the fastest racing drivers of all time end up?

He has raised concerns about racing on ovals, so that rules out a switch to IndyCar as someone like Verstappen will be in it to win it - not do a part-time schedule, and also miss out on the Indianapolis 500.

NASCAR also falls away here, and Formula E seems not to be his cup of tea. A switch to endurance racing is perhaps his best option, and an attack on the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Away from real world racing, Verstappen can usually be found on his sim and iRacing, taking part in the virtual 24 Hours, although tech problems precluded a strong result for his team.

"Racing is my life, but at some point it's no longer worth it to be away from home so much," he said.

"I want to do other things [aside from racing.]"