Max Verstappen’s rough patch
It is certainly not an easy period for Max Verstappen in F1: first the complaints about the current rules – which are unlikely to change substantially after the many meetings scheduled for these days – then the awareness of Red Bull‘s difficulties, struggling more with the chassis of a Pierre Waché already under fire than with the new engine packaged in collaboration with Ford (so much so that it seems the Milton Keynes team will not be able to access the ADUO benefits). Finally, as the icing on the cake, the separation from his long-time race engineer and friend Gianpiero Lambiase who, starting from 2028, will move to McLaren in a role as right-hand man to team principal Andrea Stella.
Read more Tesla is working on a new low-cost electric SUV
Jos speaks
Despite the many critical issues and the resulting ambitions in GT3 races such as the 24 Hours of Nurburgring Nordschleife in which Max Verstappen will be a protagonist already this year, dad Jos does not believe that Lambiase’s farewell – who will in any case remain at Red Bull, in his place on the pit wall, at least until the end of the 2027 World Championship – is decisive in pushing his son out of F1. “Many things have changed – explains the former F1 driver on the eve of the TAS Rally in Belgium, where he is competing this weekend – especially after four world titles and having achieved great results together. Obviously the choice depends only on Max, but personally I think he will continue to race in Formula 1”.
“I think in the end he will stay in the paddock – he adds – also because it seems that Formula 1 and the FIA still want to modify the regulations, and what they can do this year will already be helpful. Fans and drivers complain constantly, I think they know how to intervene. To me, as a driver, I certainly don’t like these regulations very much. I watch the races and at a certain point I simply turn off the television, because this is not what Formula 1 should represent. It is no longer true that the maximum is asked of the driver, now it is more of a race for the engineers”.
Read more Fiat Topolino, four special liveries at Design Week
“The driver often has to lift his foot off the accelerator and, for this reason, can no longer really make a difference, and I think that’s a shame. Usually you had to brake late, make a difference in the fast corners, but with these machines it is no longer possible. GT3 races? Once all those drivers wanted F1, it’s crazy that those races are now better than Formula 1. But there is still a long way to go”, concluded Jos, Max Verstappen’s father.
