F1 world champion Max Verstappen says drivers who are not ready for a fierce and long-term title fight should quit F1.
Max Verstappen, who showed tremendous strength in the second half of the 2022 F1 season, won the second driver’s title at the Japan F1 GP (Round 19) in October, ending the title fight early.
It was a stark contrast to Max Verstappen’s first F1 title success in 2021. The title fight, which was linked to the final round of the Abu Dhabi F1 GP, ended in a controversial situation when the FIA irregularly handled the car’s restart security just before the end of the race.
Max Verstappen famously said after his 2021 title fight with Lewis Hamilton that he cannot face the stress of such a hard battle all the time.
“Certainly you can’t see drama like that every year. It’s not good for me and it’s not healthy for anyone in the team. For both teams,” Verstappen said in an interview with The Guardian Told.
But with F1 preparing for a 24-race calendar for 2023, Verstappen is aware that stress and tension for drivers could rise.
But Verstappen said he was not worried about complications from the increased challenge and said he needed to prepare for more difficulties.
“If you’re not ready, why don’t you stop now?” said Verstappen.
“I think we are all racers and we love racing.”
“Obviously, it’s great to have a season like last year, but it’s also great to have a season like this year. It’s going to be very difficult to do it every year like last year.”
“But it’s also something that doesn’t happen very often in F1, so it should be fine.”
Max Verstappen’s closest rival, Charles Leclerc, has agreed that he has no choice but to prepare for a bigger and more intense season ahead.
“I think we are all ready for a longer season,” said Leclerc.
“I hope it’s tight. It’s always nice to fight to the end, but I hope I’m ready for more races and longer battles.”
Red Bull have dominated the RB18’s weight disadvantage this year, but Verstappen does not believe the gains for his rivals will carry over to 2023.
“I think it will be closer,” said Verstappen.
“People understand the car better and over time all the teams will get closer.”
“We know over the winter we don’t really want to keep pushing and keep finding performance. Not just performance, but next year the tires will change a bit, so maybe we need to understand the bigger tires. We’ll see how we manage all that.”
Category: F1 / Max Verstappen / red bull
