Revealed: Why Max Verstappen fully understands F1 ignoring his complaints

Max Verstappen does not expect Formula 1 to act on any of his expansion complaints, as if he ran the series, he would also ignore the drivers.

Formula 1 is looking to fully exploit the popularity boom being enjoyed, a surge initiated by the success of Netflix’s hit F1 docuseries Drive to Survive.

Several of F1’s initiatives though to keep the ball rolling have not sat well with three-time World Champion Verstappen.

Max Verstappen would ignore his complaints too

F1 2024 is set to feature a record 24 rounds, with Verstappen having made it clear that the increasing demands of the calendar make him question his long-term future in the series.

Verstappen is also a stern critic of sprint races, first introduced in 2021 and appearing at six rounds in F1 2024, while the glitz and glamour of the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, for which F1 itself is the promoter, failed to wow Verstappen.

“99 per cent show, one per cent sport” was Verstappen’s assessment, while he also dropped a football reference in branding the track “National League” compared to the “Champions League” Monaco GP, which Las Vegas has been tipped to challenge for F1’s jewel in the crown status.

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But, if Verstappen was running F1 and plotting out how to ensure the series went from strength to strength, he would not care what the drivers said either.

“My salary didn’t grow because of the sport growing,” said Verstappen as per RacingNews365.com.

“I fully understand [F1’s approach], and you can look at it two ways: the business side and the sport side.

“Of course I understand their side as well, but I am just voicing my opinion on the performance side.

“We are not stakeholders, so I just go with it, and they decide what they do.

“I would do the same if I was the owner, I wouldn’t listen to the drivers, it is my sport and I would do what I want if that was the case, but when I am asked a question, I want to try and answer it in an honest way.”

While Verstappen had requested “just a normal race weekend please” for how he wanted the sprint format to be tweaked as expected for F1 2024, instead he will have six of them to contest as China and Miami get their first taste of sprint action, followed by Austria, Austin, Brazil and Qatar.

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