Red Bull has reacted to suggestions that Max Verstappen could quit Formula 1 at the end of the year, after a torrid opening three races amid his dislike of the sport’s new regulations.
The Dutchman has just 12 points from the opening trio of Grands Prix, as the Milton Keynes-based squad has been struggling to keep up with its main rivals.
Verstappen has consistently voiced his disapproval of the new ruleset, criticising F1’s pivot towards further electrification, with 50-50 hybrid V6s power units the cornerstone of them.
The four-time World Champion has always appeared nonplussed about chasing records, and with little else to prove in terms of his driving ability, he has sought enjoyment from other forms of racing, notably in the NLS championship.
After his eighth-place finish in Suzuka, Verstappen dropped his biggest hint yet, commenting that he would use the sport’s month-long break before Miami to consider his future.
But Team Principal Laurent Mekies quickly quelled the fears that their star man might vacate F1, saying that Red Bull is working to give him a more competitive RB22 to placate his disillusionment.
“We certainly focus on the competitive picture. Yes, that’s what we do,” he said.
“We are, you know, we are having zero discussions about the other aspects – will come to the regs in a second.
“So we have a lot of work to do. I’m sure by the time we give him a fast guy, will be a much, much happier Max. So, and by the time we give him a car, he can push and make the difference ways, it will also be a happier Max.
“So honestly, that’s 1% of our discussions right now.
“As for the regs, as you know, they are coming with some good aspect and more tricky aspects. And as a sports with the other teams, we will meet in the break to see how we can tweak them, to make it better.”
What Motorsport Week thinks
It’s fair to say that ever since Max Verstappen’s 1,457 day grip on the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship loosened from his grasp, things have not been entirely going his way.
But that timeline began with a look of serene acceptance that his streak as the champion was gone. In fact, when Motorsport Week asked him how he quantified any sense of pride that he only lost it by two points [when having been over 100 behind in August], he provided a somewhat un-Verstappen-like answer that totalled to over a minute, in which he smiled, looked relaxed and said that he ‘felt good’.
He was likely comfortable in the knowledge – that he had voiced publicly days earlier – that he would have been champion for a fifth successive year, and long ago, had he been driving the McLaren that propelled Lando Norris to is first title.
Much water has flowed under the bridge since then, most of it choppy.
READ our Editor’s full column on Max Verstappen’s F1 retirement hints in this week’s MOTORSPORT MONDAY