Credits: IMAGO PanoramiC
Although Max Verstappen has been dominating F1 week in and week out, he is not happy about his current dominance. The reason for the same is the changes Liberty Media have brought to the sport ever since they took over back in 2017. After criticizing F1’s sprint race format for most of last year, Verstappen has now taken another swipe at the calendar. He is not happy with the introduction of more street races and prefers the traditional kind of circuits like Imola.
While speaking during the Emilia Romagna GP this weekend, Verstappen said (as quoted by motorsport.com), “We go to a lot of tracks that don’t really excite me”. However, when it came to circuits like Imola, he added,
“This is unbelievable. There are a few old-school tracks that we have remaining on the calendar and that’s also what I fell in love with when I started racing and watching F1. We need more of those”.
Considering that Verstappen is old-school, he is unlikely to appreciate F1’s plans for the future. With F1 having confirmed that the Madrid Grand Prix will be added from the 2026 season onwards, there are speculations that Barcelona will be removed.
This plan is likely to irk Verstappen as the Madrid track is a hybrid circuit. Meanwhile, the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona featured a traditional track, one that Verstappen prefers over hybrid and street circuits.
However, these are not the only concerns the Dutchman has raised. Last year, the 26-year-old not only criticized F1’s decision to host more sprint races but also slammed their decision to host a Grand Prix in Las Vegas.
Max Verstappen unhappy with F1’s trajectory
Although more and more drivers have come to appreciate the sprint race format over time, having criticized it earlier, Max Verstappen is still not one of them. Verstappen doesn’t understand the point of holding a shortened race and then a longer race as doing so will destroy the unpredictability that will arise by holding just the main Grand Prix on Sunday.
When asked to share his thoughts on the sprint race format last year, the Dutchman didn’t hold back in his criticisms. He made it clear that he doesn’t like F1 bringing changes to the sport repeatedly as other sports do not change the rules so often.
He then went on to claim that making such changes is all about “making as much money as possible”. When asked what kind of a race weekend would he prefer, Verstappen replied, “Just a normal race weekend, please, thank you. I’m not interested in any change. I don’t like it”.
However, Verstappen’s criticisms against F1 were far from over. He was arguably the most frustrated during the pre-race and post-race shows at the Las Vegas GP last year.
Verstappen referred to the Las Vegas GP as one that featured 1% of sport and 99% of a show. When asked what did he make of the pre-race ceremony, he replied, “We are just standing up there, looking like a clown”.
The Red Bull driver then also had similar remarks when asked whether he enjoyed driving in Las Vegas or not. Verstappen replied that the racing in Las Vegas is not good as it features a street circuit and he is not a fan of them.
However, much to the surprise of everyone, Verstappen’s mood did seem to change after he won the race. After celebrating on the podium, he sang, “Viva Las Vegas“.
