Verstappen’s passion for F1 is back

For the past few months the rumour mill has been industriously grinding out stories signalling a variety of ‘next moves’ for Max Verstappen, ranging from leaving Red Bull for Mercedes to quitting Formula 1 entirely.

Some were more far-fetched than others but Verstappen was palpably disengaged and disgruntled at grand prix weekends. Arguably the process began last year, when the RB20 slid from competitiveness after Miami – and Max became so disenchanted that he began to spend enough time sim racing during weekends for it to be viewed as an impediment to his real-world performance. After Hungary he was either banned from – or agreed to stop, depending on the hysteria level of the reportage – sim racing during GP weekends.

In the background he continued to invest a great deal of energy in his GT racing team, famously testing a GT3 Ferrari under the nom-de-wheel Franz Hermann this summer.

But Max’s attention has snapped back to F1 during this double-header as he performed before his home crowd at the penultimate Dutch GP, then enjoyed a boost to his RB21 with an upgrade package which included a new floor and front wing. And both team and driver feel the uplift will not be limited to Monza; the upgrade package was not track-specific.

“Baku, the fast circuits, I’m very optimistic,” Red Bull driver advisor Helmut Marko told Autosport.

“I hope for Singapore, the only race we haven’t won so far. Normally on slow circuits [recent Red Bulls have underperformed]… but I believe now everything is possible in this period.

“Max is motivated like I haven’t seen him for a long time. So he is even not talking about GT.”

That’s what Helmut thinks, but it has emerged that Verstappen will race in two VLN events this month, one this coming weekend at the Nurburgring and another two weeks later, between the Azerbaijan and Singapore Grands Prix.

It was important for Red Bull’s relationship with its star asset that it was seen to do something at the Italian Grand Prix, which was a particular low point last season. There, Verstappen laboured to sixth place and thundered afterwards, “In 2023 we still had the most dominant car, but we have turned it into a monster.”

Not only did Red Bull bring an update package to Monza, its engineers let Verstappen have his own way after a debate about downforce levels. Max got what he wanted in terms of less aggressive wing levels, hence his message to the engineers over the radio on the cool-down lap after beating the previously dominant McLarens by nearly 20s.

“Yes, the driver is… the engineers are listening more to the driver,” said Marko.

“If you have such a fast and experienced driver, I think that’s the right way. He has to drive it.

“And it was important that our top speed is improving. We saw we could drive away from the McLarens. And also some other changes. The driver’s input was recognised.

“The whole technical team is more open and they discuss things. And they are not blindly taking what the simulation says.”

It’s understood that the development focus has been on driveability and predictability rather than outright performance, making the car less skittish. Marko also alluded to new team principal Laurent Mekies coming from a race-engineering background, and bringing not just a different approach to preparation than his predecessor, but also a greater willingness to lean on driver experience and feel than simulation data when the two conflict.

So for now Verstappen is back in love with F1 again. Whether involvement of some form in other series is entirely off the menu is another matter. Outlets including the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, which is essentially the Verstappen family’s personal mouthpiece, have reported Max is interested in buying a MotoGP team, most likely a manufacturer-aligned satellite outfit such as Trackhouse or LCR.

Only this weekend, former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner publicly formalised the buy-out of the Tech 3 team, as leader and public face of a consortium of investors. F1 commercial rights holder Liberty Media is a majority shareholder in MotoGP series promoter Dorna and is known to covet the interest of sports personalities with a broader global profile outside motorcycle racing.

Verstappen’s camp responded to the MotoGP rumours in the negative but, potentially to Marko’s chagrin, reaffirmed Max’s interest in the GT firmament.

“Max is very passionate about car and motor racing and, as is well known, he is also hugely committed to the GT3 world with Verstappen.com Racing,” said his manager Raymond Vermeulen.

“It’s no secret that he is interested in MotoGP, but taking over a team is not realistic at the moment. Everything would have to be just right. The chance of it happening soon is minimal.”