Christian Horner, the principal of Red Bull Racing, does not expect to lose star driver Max Verstappen anytime soon but he agreed that the Dutchman is unlikely to stay in Formula One long when his current contract expires. Verstappen fueled speculation about an early F1 retirement when he criticised plans for a new sprint weekend structure.
Saturdays as sprint weekends will be turned into stand-alone days, with qualifying in the morning determining the grid for the sprint race in the afternoon. A separate qualifying session on Friday would determine the grid for the regular grand prix on Sunday.
F1 is hoping that the new rules will go into force as soon as next weekend in Azerbaijan at the end of the month. However, reigning world champion Verstappen has stated that he "won't be around for too long" if F1 continues to experiment with the weekend schedule, especially considering the increasing number of races in a season.
“I’m not a fan of it at all.,” he said. “I think when we’re going to do all that kind of stuff, the weekend becomes even more intense, and we’re already doing so many races, so I think that is not the right way to go at it.
“We’re heading into seasons where you have at one point 24, 25 races because that’s where we’re going to head into. If we then start adding even more stuff, it’s not worth it for me anyway. I’m not enjoying that,” he added.
His passion is just driving and racing: Christian Horner on Max Verstappen
In an interview with Sky Sports News in the UK, team boss Horner said he wasn't surprised to hear these comments from his star driver, but while he doesn't see Verstappen racing into his 30s, he also doesn't see Verstappen leaving the sport anytime soon.
“Max is his own man and he’s very, very strong in his opinions and on his outlook on what he wants to do in his life,” Horner said. “And I don’t see him being a Fernando Alonso and still racing at 41 or 42 years of age, or maybe not in Formula 1, but what his love and passion are is racing.
“If he’s not racing on track at the moment, he’s racing in the virtual world, he’s driving GT cars for fun, and his passion is just driving and racing, and while that burns within him he’s going to keep going. But how long that burns for, that’s each individual’s own journey. They’ve got to find that out for themselves.”
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'I don’t see him being a Fernando Alonso' - Christian Horner opens up on Max Verstappen's 'won't be around for too long' comments
Christian Horner, the principal of Red Bull Racing, does not expect to lose star driver Max Verstappen anytime soon.
Max Verstappen-Christian Horner (Source: Twitter)
Christian Horner, the principal of Red Bull Racing, does not expect to lose star driver Max Verstappen anytime soon but he agreed that the Dutchman is unlikely to stay in Formula One long when his current contract expires. Verstappen fueled speculation about an early F1 retirement when he criticised plans for a new sprint weekend structure.
Saturdays as sprint weekends will be turned into stand-alone days, with qualifying in the morning determining the grid for the sprint race in the afternoon. A separate qualifying session on Friday would determine the grid for the regular grand prix on Sunday.
F1 is hoping that the new rules will go into force as soon as next weekend in Azerbaijan at the end of the month. However, reigning world champion Verstappen has stated that he "won't be around for too long" if F1 continues to experiment with the weekend schedule, especially considering the increasing number of races in a season.
“I’m not a fan of it at all.,” he said. “I think when we’re going to do all that kind of stuff, the weekend becomes even more intense, and we’re already doing so many races, so I think that is not the right way to go at it.
“We’re heading into seasons where you have at one point 24, 25 races because that’s where we’re going to head into. If we then start adding even more stuff, it’s not worth it for me anyway. I’m not enjoying that,” he added.
His passion is just driving and racing: Christian Horner on Max Verstappen
In an interview with Sky Sports News in the UK, team boss Horner said he wasn't surprised to hear these comments from his star driver, but while he doesn't see Verstappen racing into his 30s, he also doesn't see Verstappen leaving the sport anytime soon.
“Max is his own man and he’s very, very strong in his opinions and on his outlook on what he wants to do in his life,” Horner said. “And I don’t see him being a Fernando Alonso and still racing at 41 or 42 years of age, or maybe not in Formula 1, but what his love and passion are is racing.
“If he’s not racing on track at the moment, he’s racing in the virtual world, he’s driving GT cars for fun, and his passion is just driving and racing, and while that burns within him he’s going to keep going. But how long that burns for, that’s each individual’s own journey. They’ve got to find that out for themselves.”