Max Verstappen might be forced into early retirement, according to Formula 1 world champion Damon Hill, if the sport places more focus on sprint races.
Verstappen has already stated that he opposes adding sprint races to the F1 weekend, and the current world champion has reiterated this stance in reaction to reports that the sport will begin to include an additional qualifying session beginning with the upcoming event in Azerbaijan.
“I hope there won’t be too many changes, otherwise I won’t be around for too long,” Verstappen told Portuguese TV in Australia before expanding his thoughts in a later press conference.
“I’m not a fan of it at all. 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.”
The 25-year-old has previously made it known that he doesn't plan to compete in Formula One far into his 30s and that the conclusion of his Red Bull Racing deal after turning 31 may be a turning point in his career. He has stated that his first championship fulfilled his professional goal, with any additional victories and titles serving as a bonus.
1996 winner Hill suggested Verstappen's threat to resign should be taken seriously on the Sky Sports F1 podcast.
“Max’s retirement threat is very unusual,” he said. “This is kind of strange to hear, isn’t it?
“I think [fun] is a very important point. Is he having fun? Because I sometimes think he’s not having fun.
“I think you have to love what you’re doing, otherwise it’s a grind.”
Verstappen suggested that sprint racing was against the nature of the sport, which historically places all the attention on the 305-kilometer grand prix on Sunday and gives all the points for that race. Verstappen also criticized the burden of the current F1 schedule.
The fact that sprint racing hasn't yet cemented a significant place in the annals of the sport, according to Hill, makes him understand the viewpoint.
Hill stated, "I think there's a part of Max that wants to not waste his time on extraneous things that really are simply made for novelty purposes. "I believe he fits that description.
"I can therefore envision him saying it out of a simple sense of, 'Well, I've just come here and want to win grand prix. I just want one race to have significance. I don't want to win a race that has little merit. What purpose does that serve on your CV?
"No one will inquire as to how many Grand Prix victories you have. What number of sprints have you won?
In order to add some excitement to the weekend schedule, sprint racing was implemented in 2021 as an experiment. Instead of one of the three hours of practice, a 30-minute half-point race was substituted.
According to the current sprint rules, qualifying determines the starting grid for the sprint, and the outcome of the sprint determines the starting grid for the grand prix.
However, the sport is aiming to push through a rule change to make the sprint a stand-alone event with its own qualifying session on Saturday for the next race in Azerbaijan. The grid for the grand prix on Sunday would be determined by qualifying on Friday.
Verstappen asserted that the modifications would not influence his opinion of the format.
“For me, a sprint race is all about surviving, it’s not about racing,” he said. “For me, when you have a quick car, there’s nothing to risk. I prefer to just keep my car alive and make sure that you have a good race car for Sunday.
“And even if you change the format, I don’t find it’s the DNA of Formula 1 to do these kinds of sprint races.
“F1 is about getting the most out of it in qualifying and then having an amazing Sunday, good long race distances. That’s the DNA of the sport, and I don’t understand or I don’t know why we should change that, because I think the action has been good.”
F1 feels that making the sprint a separate event will motivate competitors to race more aggressively and enhance the spectacle. Verstappen, though, believes that the sport would benefit more from cutting the three-day weekend down to just two days and strengthening the cars in order to minimize the amount of time F1 cars spend off the track.
“I understand of course they want to have basically every day exciting, but then I think maybe it’s better to just reduce the weekend, only race on Saturday and Sunday and make those two days exciting,” he said.
“And how you get even more action is about getting the cars closer, getting more teams able to fight for the win, and I think naturally the show will be great.
“If we have six, seven teams already fighting for a win, that will be insane. Then you really don’t need to change anything.”
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