Credits: IMAGO Marco Canoniero

Max Verstappen has established unprecedented levels of dominance with his consistency over the last few years. The Dutchman has won 21 out of the last 25 races since the beginning of the 2023 season. The only two other drivers to win a race during this time include his own Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez (two) and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz (two). Although Verstappen’s domination should benefit F1 as a whole, that is barely the case. Independent photographer Peter van Egmond has now expressed his frustration with who has been benefitting from the 26-year-old‘s domination.

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The photographer believes that although he was one of the first to cover Verstappen, he is barely able to sell any images of the Red Bull driver despite the three-time champion arguably being the most famous in the sport currently. Instead, Van Egmond believes that it is the big photo agencies who are benefitting.

He pointed out that since these agencies have contacts with most of the media, it’s their images that get sold. In his monologue with the Dutch Magazine Formule1.nl, he noted,

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“What’s strange now is that despite Max’s great success, I sell fewer images of him than of Jos. And that’s because the big photo agencies photograph him more and most media have contracts with those agencies. And that is sometimes quite frustrating. To be honest, I think it is very wrong that I actually benefit the least from the success“.

Since Max Verstappen is one of the most famous drivers in F1 today, one would expect that his domination would benefit more people than before as the benefits would trickle down. However, that does not seem to be the case, as pointed out by Van Egmond.

Photographers not only play an important role in covering what happens on the track but also off it. Since they are the ones who usually spot uncanny meetings between different members of the paddock, their images play a crucial role in leading to further speculations and rumors about potential driver moves, for example.

Will Max Verstappen leave Red Bull after Jos Verstappen’s chat with Toto Wolff?

Since the beginning of last month, several reports have emerged that there is a possibility about Max Verstappen leaving Red Bull for Mercedes. These rumors first emerged after his father, Jos Verstappen, was spotted speaking privately with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.

Soon after he spoke with Jos, Wolff also teased that Mercedes could make a move for Max. When asked about the changes of signing the 26-year-old, the Austrian told the media, “Everything is possible“.

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Soon after Wolff gave his interview, the rumors of Max potentially leaving Red Bull for Mercedes intensified all the more when reports claimed that Helmut Marko could leave the Austrian outfit because of his alleged involvement in compromising Christian Horner. Since Max has a close bond with Marko, he threatened Red Bull that he too may consider leaving if the 80-year-old left the side.

However, the rumors of Max Verstappen potentially leaving Red Bull have died down now after the 26-year-old’s recent interview. The Dutchman made it clear to the media that he will only drive a car other than Red Bull when he retires from F1.