Max Verstappen interview: Show races have brought F1 to a tipping point
Max Verstappen has warned that Formula One is at a “tipping point” in terms of putting the show before the sport, adding he will quit the sport if it veers too far from its origins.
Red Bull’s triple world champion was outspoken in his criticism of the ‘showbiz’ element surrounding last week’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, decrying it as “99 per cent show and one per cent sporting event” and saying he felt like a “clown” at the spectacular pre-race ceremony.
In an interview with the Telegraph before this weekend’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Verstappen doubled down on that criticism, taking aim at street circuits, sprint weekends, and the growing number of races on the calendar.
“We are at a tipping point,” he said. “In terms of circuits, for me real tracks are always more fun to drive. People can say what they want about street circuits. But at the end of the day, that’s not where a Formula One car belongs. I’ve told Stefano [Domenicali, F1 CEO]. I think it’s very important that drivers speak to them about keeping the real racing in. And that it’s not all about the outside show. We need to focus on the sport itself.”
Earlier this season, Verstappen warned he might quit Formula One if the sport made too many tweaks to its race weekends which were “not in the sport’s DNA”.
On that occasion, the 26-year-old was mainly referring to proposals to add more sprint weekends to the calendar. Sprint weekends are when qualifying takes place on a Friday for the main grand prix on a Sunday, with a separate qualifying ‘shootout’ on a Saturday morning for a standalone sprint race later that same day.
Verstappen said he had not changed his mind, and would certainly retire sooner rather than later if he felt it was all becoming too much.
“Definitely,” he said. “There’s so many more things out there anyway. You know, it’s not only about Formula One in life. There will be a day where you wake up and maybe you’re like, ‘I want to do something else.’”
Asked whether that would depend on whether he had a winning car, Verstappen, who will be chasing his 19th victory in 22 races on Sunday, replied: “No, it’s not only about that. It’s about quality of life in general. Because we are travelling to so many races.”
In his interview, Verstappen also addressed rumours that representatives for Lewis Hamilton approached Red Bull earlier this year to discuss a potential move to the team.
The Dutchman said he was not afraid to face anyone but said it would “never work” between them and would be “better for the sport” if they stayed apart.
‘Lewis Hamilton and me would never work in the same team’
It would be the ultimate driver pairing. A modern-day combination to rival Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, or Nelson Piquet and Nige Mansell. Not to mention an instant fix for a sport which is once again suffering from the supreme dominance of one driver and one team.
Max Verstappen, though, is not one for getting caught up in hype. And there is no chance of him entertaining the possibility of working with his erstwhile nemesis Lewis Hamilton, however much fans might want it. “It would never work anyway,” the triple world champion shrugs when asked about reports – started by his own team principal Christian Horner, albeit flatly denied by Hamilton – that the seven-times world champion’s representatives approached Red Bull earlier this year about a possible move.
Why not, I ask? Because they would be like two rutting stags competing for the same prize? With the inevitable bloodshed that entails?
“Exactly,” he says. “For sure we would be trying to beat each other. But I think it’s also good to have us in different teams.
“For me, the important thing is that our rivals make sure they’re competitive enough to battle it out. Because otherwise it doesn’t matter who you put next to each other, there is only one car winning the championship again. And that’s not what you want as a fan.”
Possibly. But surely in the absence of a genuine championship fight between rival teams, as we had in 2021 when Hamilton and Verstappen duked it out in arguably the greatest title fight the sport has ever known, a spicy intra-team battle between this era’s two preeminent drivers would liven things up?
Verstappen shrugs again. Sitting in Red Bull’s motorhome in the Abu Dhabi paddock, the Dutchman looks like a man who has won 18 out of 21 races this season. A man who knows exactly who he is and what he is about. He speaks his mind and on this issue he is unmoved. He does not need to add fuel to any fire.
‘It’s important that we drivers speak up’
This has been a season of growth for Verstappen, who has developed both on and off the track, showing increasing self-confidence.
In Las Vegas last weekend, the 26-year-old garnered headlines with his outspoken comments about Formula One putting the “show” above the sport. Rather than buying into what many saw as PR hype, Verstappen raised eyebrows by telling media that he felt like a “clown” at the pre-race ceremony, adding that the Las Vegas Strip circuit was boring.
In sticking his head above the parapet, and no doubt incurring the wrath of the sport’s rulers, the Dutch driver won many admirers, some of whom were not particularly fans of his before.
“That wasn’t my intention,” Verstappen notes one week on. “I just responded how I wanted to respond about things. I think it’s important that as drivers we speak up for what we believe in.”
‘Who gives a f--- about how much money you make?’
If there was one aspect of his Vegas rant for which Verstappen was criticised, it was his claim that his salary, estimated at £50 million per year, was not directly linked to the recent growth of the sport through Liberty Media’s exploitation of the Netflix generation and ‘show’ races such as Miami and Las Vegas.
A few fans suggested it was hypocritical of Red Bull’s world champion to take the money generated from F1’s rapid growth and at the same time criticise the product with the other, suggesting, if he felt so strongly about it, he could take a pay cut, or even skip the race.
But Verstappen is not backing down on that either. “I’m not sure where I would stand contractually on skipping a race,” he says. “But in terms of the salary, I really don’t think that [the recent growth of the sport] makes any difference to my contract. I don’t think it depends for Red Bull on how much money they make in F1.
“I mean, up until like, a couple of years ago, every team was making losses, and I was still getting a big salary. So it has nothing to do with that. And Red Bull, I think, is also bigger than just their Formula One activities, you know?
“It’s always very easy to say ‘You shouldn’t complain, because look at how much money you make’... But who gives a f--- about how much money you make? It’s about just speaking your mind and speaking about what you think is right, or what needs to be taken care of in the sport.”
Verstappen is on a roll now. “I don’t care if I make $2 million or $100 million,” he adds. “I don’t care. I want to always voice my opinion. That’s how I grew up. That’s how I think we work as a team as well. Like I don’t care about if it’s the big boss, or the local security man, you know? It doesn’t matter to me. You should always be able to speak your mind. And people should be able to take criticism. Because if you can’t take criticism, you’re not going to evolve as a person anyway.”
‘Once you’re dominant, you want to win more’
The conversation turns back to this season and the competitiveness of what we are seeing on track. Is there any part of him, I ask, which would want to have a closer title fight? Does he think back to that electric finale here in Abu Dhabi two years ago and longs for a repeat?
“I mean, yeah, of course it would be great for the sport,” he replies. “I can understand that. But at the end of the day, I also think about myself, and I want to win more.
“Once you’re in that position of dominance, you just want to try to win more. That’s the truth. And that’s how it’s been in the past as well with other teams when they have had the upper hand.
“So it would be a bit unfair to say, now that I’m winning, ‘Oh, it’s fair for the sport if it’s all equal’, you know what I mean? I’ve also been in that position where, you know, I wanted to win, but we couldn’t. We just needed to work harder and try to be better.”
The question is how long it will take for Red Bull’s rivals to catch up. Verstappen is short odds to make it 19 wins in 22 races on Sunday, completing the most dominant season in Formula One history. And this is with a car which Red Bull stopped developing a few months ago as they had such an advantage that they could already turn their attentions to next year’s.
Verstappen offers little hope to fans that next year will be any different. “Well the longer you leave the regulations the same, the closer it will get,” he allows. “Because people start to understand what direction they have to develop in. So I would definitely expect our rivals to be closer to us next year. We definitely need to keep on improving to stay ahead, because we might look dominant, but in terms of pole positions, it’s always very close. It’s just that in the race, it seems like we are executing it a bit better than others.”
That is an understatement.
‘We’re operating at a different level’
I try one final time to get a rise out of him, to evoke memories of two years ago here in Abu Dhabi, when the eyes of the sporting world were focused on that final-lap drama? Does he not long for that electricity again? Verstappen smiles. “I mean, I liked it at the time,” he says. “But I also like what we’re doing now. You can’t always have a season like that.”
Alright, but if he could have a season like 2021, in which he prevailed let’s not forget, or a season like this, which would he go for? “Oh now,” he says. “For sure. It’s way better. It’s more satisfying. We’re way more competitive. And as a team we’re operating at another level.”
As mentioned at the start, Verstappen is not one for hyping things up for the sake of it. Both he and Hamilton can claim all they want that they would be happy to race one another – and both did – but the fact is there was never any chance of them teaming up. Red Bull are a team built around one lead driver and a support act. And that is how it will stay for the foreseeable future. Fans can dream of a Senna-Prost scenario all they want, but Verstappen has no wish to be part of such a combustible rivalry. And he will not apologise for it. “I don’t think at the time it was a lot of fun for them,” he shrugs.
