Verstappen: “I swapped my simulator for Mario Kart”
- Bo Helmus
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Written by Bo Helmus
The first race of the season hasn’t exactly been what Red Bull Racing was hoping for. Isack Hadjar suffered power unit problems which forced him to retire, and Max Verstappen had to start in 20th place. He ultimately finished sixth, but he wasn’t happy with the situation.
The Dutchman is realistic and acknowledges that sixth was probably the best possible result: “The gap, of course, was quite big in the race. I think if I would have started, let’s say, a little bit up front, I think the best that I could have done was one spot higher because we didn’t have the pace of the top four cars. It’s clear that at the moment we cannot fight with those cars.”
The problem for Verstappen is not only that his car is not as quick as Mercedes or Ferrari, it’s also that the car is undesirable to drive. The new regulations make racing less exciting, as most of his fellow drivers agree.
Discussions with the FIA
The Dutchman has some ideas to fix this: “I’ve had discussions with FOM and FIA and I think we are working towards something, and hopefully that will improve everything,” he says. “There are a few simple solutions, but they need to be allowed by the FIA with the battery-related stuff.”
He explains: “Starting with a 0% battery is not a lot of fun and also quite dangerous. We almost had a massive shunt in Melbourne in the start. Now some of that is related to batteries. You could see a lot of big speed differences because I was not the only car that had almost, let’s say, no battery, or 20, 30 percent. This is something that I think can be easily fixed.”
Seeking fun elsewhere
Driving in F1 becomes less enjoyable, and that raises the question if Verstappen will stay in the pinnacle of motorsport. He debunks any rumours: “I don’t want to leave really. Like I said, I wish I had a bit more fun for sure, but I’m also doing other stuff that is a lot of fun. I mean, I get to race the Nordschleife.
“I hope in the coming years I can do Spa, hopefully Le Mans. So, I’m combining stuff to find other stuff that I find really fun as well. Of course, my team is going on, so I have a lot of distractions at the same time. Positive distractions I would call it.
“But at the same time, it’s a bit conflicting because I don’t really enjoy driving the car, but I do enjoy working with all the people in the team and from the engine department as well. Yeah, it’s almost like a bit of a mind... I can’t swear.”
Practice makes perfect
Until the regulations change, drivers will have to get used to the new cars. Verstappen has practiced a lot: “I swapped the simulator for my Nintendo Switch and yeah, practicing a bit of Mario Kart, actually. Finding the mushrooms is going quite well. The blue shell is a bit more difficult, but I’m working on it.”
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