Tag: Max Verstappen

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen suggested he could quit Formula One at the end of the season after enduring another frustrating race on Sunday in Japan.

The Red Bull driver finished eighth in Suzuka, ending his four-year reign as Japanese Grand Prix champion in ruthless fashion.

He told the BBC that he was “not enjoying the whole formula behind” this season’s championship, which has brought in sweeping new regulations.

“You just think about, is it worth it?” he said. “Or do I enjoy being more at home with my family? Seeing my friends more when you’re not enjoying your sport?”

Verstappen has repeatedly railed against the new regulations, which see a 50-50 split between conventional and electrical power.

He labelled his car “undriveable” after qualifying in a lowly 11th for the Japan race. When asked if he could walk away from the sport, he replied that he was “thinking about everything inside this paddock”.

“It’s really anti-driving. Then at one point, yeah, it’s just not what I want to do,” he said. “And of course, you can look at it and make a lot of money. Great. But at the end of the day, it’s not about money any more because this has always been my passion.”

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

Max Verstappen sought a change of scenery by competing in a four-hour race in Germany before the Japanese Grand Prix.

He will not compete again in F1 until the Miami Grand Prix on May 3, after the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races scheduled for April were cancelled because of the war in the Middle East.

When asked how he would fill his time during the break, Verstappen answered: “I’ll do some more racing, some stuff that makes me smile.

“And at the same time speak to the team as well, to try and find more pace and some more stable balance because this is not sustainable for us as a team,” he added.

Verstappen is in ninth place in the championship standings, 60 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes after three races.

He finished sixth in the season opener in Australia and retired from the grand prix in China because of a cooling issue.

“I want to be here to have fun and have a great time and enjoy myself. At the moment that’s not really the case,” he said. “I’m trying. I keep telling myself every day to try and enjoy it. It’s just very hard.”

READ: Youngest F1 title leader Antonelli to keep ‘raising bar’ after Japan win

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen was involved in a flashpoint ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix on Thursday when he refused to start his press conference until an English journalist had left the room.

The Red Bull driver sat down to speak to reporters at the team’s hospitality suite in Suzuka, but then said, “I’m not speaking before he’s leaving”, and gestured at a journalist from The Guardian newspaper.

The journalist asked Verstappen if his demand was because of a question he had asked the driver last season, to which Verstappen replied “yes” and told him to “get out”.

The reporter left, and Verstappen continued with the press conference.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

The reporter later told AFP that the incident stemmed from a question he had asked Verstappen after the Dutchman missed out on a fifth world title to Lando Norris by two championship points at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December.

The question centred on the impact of a penalty that Verstappen had picked up for ramming Mercedes driver George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix in June.

For the unversed, Max Verstappen is currently eighth in the championship standings after two races of the season, 43 points behind the leader, George Russell of Mercedes.

Verstappen took a break from F1 by competing at a four-hour race in Germany last weekend, but even that did not lift his gloom as he was disqualified after winning.

READ: PSL 11 final squads revealed ahead of season opener

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen said Saturday he had never experienced anything like the crash that left him 20th on the grid for the Australian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman came out relatively late in the first qualifying session in Melbourne but didn’t manage a single timed lap, spinning at speed and careening through the gravel into the barriers at Turn 1.

He clambered out of his Red Bull, shaking his hand and wrist, but said he was okay after being checked by medics.

“I just hit the brakes and suddenly the rear axle just completely locked out of the blue,” he told reporters on the eve of the season-opening race.

“I don’t know why that happened or how that happened. I’ve never experienced something like that before in my career.

“The rear axle just completely locked on, then of course you can’t save that anymore at that speed.”

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

Max Verstappen said hitting the barrier was not too bad, but the steering wheel snapped out of his hands, which is why he went to get a medical check.

“But all good,” he added.

Verstappen, the 2023 and 2024 pole-sitter, has his work cut out on Sunday with a near-impossible task ahead to salvage his weekend.

George Russell led a Mercedes 1-2 with teammate Kimi Antonelli, with the Briton almost a second faster than third-placed Isack Hadjar in the other Red Bull.

“I said in Bahrain (at pre-season testing) ‘Let’s wait and see in Melbourne, and you will see how fast they are’,” Verstappen said of the Silver Arrows.

“So for me, that’s not a surprise. We know that we have to improve the car to fight Mercedes.”

READ: Manchester City aren’t a ‘complete team’ admits Pep Guardiola

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen said he’s keen to get to grips with the new car Red Bull unveiled on Thursday for a 2026 Formula One season of massive change.

The team unveiled the livery for their new cars before a few hundred guests at Detroit’s Michigan Central Station, less than two months before the season opens in Melbourne on March 7.

New rules for 2026 see aerodynamic changes to make cars lighter and smaller, along with modifications to engine specifications to make for a greater contribution from electric power in the hybrid units.

“There is a lot of unknown, there are big changes in the engine, in the car,” Verstappen said. “Initially, I’ll take time to adjust during test days. The motivation is very high.”

“It always takes a bit of time to get used to things,” he added. “You need to understand where the most performance is to be found, and get comfortable in the car.

“Also, with the new engine now as well, that will take a bit of time.”

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

Red Bull, which has previously relied on Honda engines, took the gamble in 2023 of developing its own engine for 2026 in partnership with automotive giant Ford, which will return to F1 22 years after its departure.

Verstappen’s run of four straight world titles ended in 2025 as McLaren’s Lando Norris claimed the prize.

But despite an inferior car, the Dutch driver battled back from a massive deficit in the standings to challenge for the title, snatching eight wins, more than either Norris or teammate Oscar Piastri.

This year, Max Verstappen will be joined by French driver Isack Hadjar, promoted to the team’s Number 2 seat after a successful rookie season with Racing Bulls.

Hadjar was also on hand for Thursday’s splashy big reveal, as was Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies, who said the sweeping regulatory changes and a new engine would make for a steep learning curve.

“I think it would simply be naive of us to think we could build our engine from scratch… and be more competitive right from the start than people who’ve been doing it for 95 years,” he told AFP.

READ: PCB to revise match timings for Australia T20Is: sources

Lando Norris claimed his maiden Formula One world drivers’ title in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, ending Max Verstappen’s four-year reign.

The Briton finished third in the season-closer behind race winner Verstappen and the other title challenger, McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, to claim the crown by two points.

Norris, in tears on the team radio, said: “Thanks so much. I love you mum, I love you dad.”

“That was exciting, a little too exciting, awesome,” said McLaren team principal Zak Brown.

Norris becomes Britain’s first world champion since Lewis Hamilton in 2020 with this 13th drivers’ crown for McLaren.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

The 26-year-old’s success comes over half a century after Emerson Fittipaldi claimed the British marque’s first drivers’ title in 1974.

A galaxy of F1 greats followed – James Hunt (1976), Niki Lauda (1984), Alain Prost (1985, 1986, 1989), Ayrton Senna (1988, 1990, 1991), Mikka Hakkinen (1998, 1999) and Hamilton in 2008.

McLaren, headed by team principal Andrea Stella and CEO Brown, secured back-to-back constructors’ titles in Singapore last month.

Sunday’s season-closer was the first time the title was decided by a contest involving more than two drivers since a four-way scrap at the final race in Abu Dhabi in 2010.

READ: Salah opens door to Liverpool exit with ‘thrown under the bus’ rant

Max Verstappen’s quest for a fifth drivers’ world title suffered a setback on Friday when he was out-qualified by a Red Bull team-mate for the first time in 440 days.

The Dutchman will start sixth in Saturday’s sprint at the Qatar Grand Prix behind team-mate Yuki Tsunoda on the third row.

The last time Verstappen, who is level with Oscar Piastri and 24 points adrift of Lando Norris in the championship, was outpaced in any qualifying session was at the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, when he was beaten by Sergio Perez.

Tsunoda, widely expected to be dropped by Red Bull at the end of this year, was 0.009 seconds faster than Verstappen, who spent most of the sprint qualifying session complaining about the balance and performance of his car.

“Not good,” was his verdict on the session. “From the first lap, it was really bad bouncing and with aggressive understeer, which would shift into oversteer at high speeds. Just not what you want!”

“We were locked in (to the set-up), and of course, we tried to change a few things on the wheel, but it never really worked and made it tricky.”

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

He said he had changed his set-up after the earlier sole practice session at the high-grip but dusty high-speed Lusail International Circuit, but added that he and the team needed to understand the problems.

“It wasn’t working well in qualifying, so that’s something we need to understand,” he added.

“With this balance, in the sprint at least, it will not be a lot of fun. It will be more about trying to survive, I guess, and then make some changes going into qualifying (for Sunday’s race).”

Max Verstappen made clear before the weekend’s action began that he had only an outside chance to take the title and was relying on perfect results and more self-inflicted problems for his rivals after McLaren’s double disqualification last weekend in Las Vegas.

READ: England ‘learned the lessons’ from Perth loss, says Ben Stokes

A late bid by Max Verstappen for a fifth driver’s world title suffered a setback on Friday when he qualified only sixth for Saturday’s sprint race at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The 28-year-old Dutchman, who said he needs four near-perfect weekends to overhaul McLaren driver Lando Norris’s 36-point advantage in the title race, grumbled about the balance and handling of his Red Bull.

Norris, who won last year’s sprint race in Brazil, topped the times to take pole for the sprint and, after taking a one-point lead in the title race ahead of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, seems to have seized the initiative again.

Piastri qualified third behind teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli in a Mercedes. The outcome left Verstappen frustrated.

“I’ve got a lot of vibration in the car and a lot of ride problems,” said Verstappen. “It’s not what we want, but besides that, we also just don’t have the grip, and the middle sector is terrible.

“I just can’t get the car to turn, but at the same time, I can’t really rely on the rears. So, for us, it’s quite poor,” he said before adding. “But it is what it is.”

Norris was satisfied with taking his first sprint pole of the season.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

“It was a little bit tougher than I would’ve liked,” he admitted.

“But I think we did the job we needed to do, which was to be the fastest today. It’s trickier than Mexico and I’ve not been feeling quite as comfortable, but, therefore, it’s a great result for me.”

His team-mate and rival Piastri said: “I had a couple of big moments on my first lap, which wasn’t ideal.

“That was a bit of a shame, but ultimately I felt much happier today than during the last couple of weeks. It went well, I changed a couple of things, and ultimately I’m pretty happy.

“We can definitely fight with what we’ve got, and obviously, there are a lot more points on Sunday.”

Antonelli, who out-qualified team-mate George Russell and was only 0.097 seconds off Norris, was looking ahead to Saturday.

“We’re going to have to take care of the wind and expect quite different conditions,” he said.

READ: Former Australia pacer takes jibe at Stuart Broad over Ashes remarks

Max Verstappen welcomed new Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies to the race team on Saturday with an immaculate gift-wrapped triumph in the sprint race at the Belgian Grand Prix.

The 27-year-old Dutchman, who started from second on the grid, seized the lead on the opening lap and then resisted all threats from series leader Oscar Piastri, who had to defend attacks from McLaren team-mate Lando Norris, who finished third.

It was a consummate performance from Verstappen, who ran with a low downforce set-up to give him a straight-line speed advantage – for which he was congratulated by Mekies, appointed on July 9 to replace Red Bull’s former boss Christian Horner, who was dismissed unexpectedly after 20 years at the helm.

“That worked out really well,” said a delighted Max Verstappen after thanking Mekies on the team radio.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

“We got an opportunity at turn five and took it, and then it was tough to keep those two behind.

“It was cat and mouse with battery usage, and I couldn’t afford to make any mistakes, although I had one lock-up – it is so difficult to keep faster cars behind, so it was all really at the limit. Not easy! But we did it.”

Laurent Mekies was equally satisfied.

“Max was brilliant and all the guys did a great job,” said the former boss of Reb Bull’s ‘B’ team, Racing Bulls. “He was under massive pressure, and he made almost no mistakes, and the team extracted everything from the car and the tyres.”

READ: Liverpool to remember Diogo Jota with permanent tribute

Max Verstappen has poured cold water on speculation surrounding a possible Red Bull exit, choosing to keep his focus firmly on performance rather than paddock politics.

The storm was stirred earlier this week when Red Bull’s long-time advisor Helmut Marko admitted he had “great concern” that the Dutchman could leave the team if things don’t improve soon.

Marko was speaking in the aftermath of a disappointing weekend in Bahrain, where Verstappen could only finish sixth, three places ahead of his new teammate Yuki Tsunoda, behind a dominant show by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

Asked specifically to comment on Marko’s fears, Verstappen shared that he is not letting external noise shift his mindset.

“I’m just focusing on driving and don’t think about any other scenarios,” he said, clearly uninterested in fuelling the rumour mill.

He elaborated that the Bahrain result stung — not just for him, but across the garage.

“Of course, Bahrain wasn’t a great weekend. I think we were all pretty disappointed with that,” he admitted.

“But I don’t sit and dwell on it. I just keep working with the team, keep trying to improve the car, and come up with new ideas. That’s how I go about my weeks — one at a time, trying to improve the situation.”

The Dutchman’s name has been linked with multiple teams over recent months, including Mercedes, Ferrari, and more recently, Aston Martin, who have just pulled off a major coup by signing former Red Bull design chief Adrian Newey.

But Verstappen made it clear that all the talk is coming from outside the cockpit, not from him.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

“A lot of people are talking about it… Except me,” he said with a smile.

“Like I said, I just want to focus on my car and work with the people around me. That’s the only thing on my mind when it comes to Formula One. I’m happy. I’m not very happy with the car, but that’s the job — we all want to be better, and we’re all working on that.”

Heading into this weekend’s Grand Prix in Jeddah — a track where Max Verstappen has won twice — the focus within Red Bull is to get back on track with improvements.

“We’re still trying things with the car,” he explained. “Are there things we can fix? Of course. But how much we’ll manage to solve here in Jeddah… that’s still up in the air.”

“We’re always pushing to find that sweet spot. It’s a narrow window, and Suzuka was proof that when we hit it, we can still deliver.”

That race in Japan remains the high point of Verstappen’s 2025 campaign so far — a brilliant pole followed by a dominant win — but with McLaren already clinching three out of four races this season, the pressure is on Red Bull to find answers quickly.

“It’s tough to fight for a championship right now, especially when we’re not the quickest,” he acknowledged.

“But it’s a long road. Last year, everything looked perfect early on, and we still hit a rough patch mid-season. So I’m just taking it race by race. I think Jeddah will be better than Bahrain — but beyond that, a lot is out of my hands.”

Joining Max Verstappen in the press conference was Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who couldn’t help but enjoy the headlines linking Max to his team.

“Those rumours are great for us — they say a lot about where Aston is heading and the kind of future this team has,” Alonso said. “Would I welcome Max as a teammate? Of course. But let’s be honest — it’s very unlikely to happen.”

For now, Red Bull’s star driver is staying put and staying grounded, focused on fixing what’s in front of him, not chasing headlines.

READ: Here’s what inspired Imad Wasim’s viral PSL 10 celebrations

Max Verstappen on Thursday confirmed he will stay with Red Bull next year, dealing a significant blow to Mercedes’ hopes of recruiting him to replace Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton.

The three-time world champion told reporters at a news conference ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, a home event for Red Bull, that he was focused on work for next year’s car and driving for the team.

His response to a direct question will end, for now at least, speculation that he had lost faith in Red Bull following a stormy passage earlier this year when team boss Christian Horner was accused of controlling behaviour by a female colleague.

“Ok, yes,” he said when asked if he was staying. “And that’s what I have already said. We are working on next year’s car and when you are focused on that it means that you’re also driving for the team.

“Of course, people are talking, but it’s most important that we have a very competitive car for the future. It is very tight on track, but we are working as a team to try and improve. We want to be competitive again next year.”

Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff had said Verstappen was his primary target to replace departing seven-time world champion Hamilton.

“I have a long contract with the team,” added Verstappen.

“I’m very happy where I’m at and we’re already focusing on next year with things we can implement on the car. So, I guess that should say enough of where I’m driving next year.”

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

Max Verstappen has a contract with Red Bull until 2028.

His father Jos, attending only his second race this year after declaring in Bahrain that Red Bull would “explode” if Horner was retained, appeared to support the decision to stay and fight for more glory with Red Bull.

After seven wins from 10 races this year, Verstappen has a 69-point lead in the title race ahead of nearest rival and friend Lando Norris of McLaren, who has closed the gap on track and believes he can beat him and his two-year dominance of the sport.

Mercedes and Ferrari have also shown competitive potential to win with George Russell taking pole in Canada and Hamilton his first podium finish this season in last Sunday’s Spanish race.

“It’s great that there isn’t just one dominant force out there now because people want to see fights on track and the drivers going for it,” said Russell.

“There should be more than one car in a position to win. It’s really exciting now to see how this season pans out and into next year – there could be four or five teams fighting to win.”

If Mercedes switch their attention away from Max Verstappen, it is expected they will sign Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli, who will turn 18 in August.

READ: “South Africa’s chokers tag is out the window,” says Marco Jansen