Max Verstappen on letting animosity with Lewis Hamilton go
EXCLUSIVE: ‘I have a lot of British friends. Not everyone wants to boo me!’: King of the track Max Verstappen on letting animosity with Lewis Hamilton go and why he feels his F1 career is complete
- Max Verstappen says he’s unfazed by crowd animosity ahead of British GP
- The Dutchman believes he completed Formula One after winning his first title
- Follow MailSport on Threads here: https://www.threads.net/@mailsport
It was as English a scene as you could imagine. A clay pigeon shoot, a marquee on the lawn, a stately home — and not a boo or heckle in the air.
This is where Max Verstappen found himself, at a Red Bull charity event, though unable to shoot under doctor’s orders so as not to imperil his shoulder ahead of his next port of call: Silverstone for the British Grand Prix.
A total of 480,000 people are expected on the old airfield over the weekend, and it has potential to be less decorous and more raucous than a garden party. Verstappen was jeered here last year by Lewis Hamilton’s partisans and is likely to be again, to which the double world champion has a typically pragmatic answer.
‘Luckily I sit in a car, I have a helmet on and go at 200mph, so it makes no difference,’ he tells Mail Sport.
And he also reckons, with some justification, that he is not universally detested among British fans, despite his rancorous fight with Hamilton for the 2021 title.
Max Verstappen is set to take it to the stage again on Sunday in the British Grand Prix
Verstappen’s memories in Silverstone are ones to forget but he is embracing the challenge
A boiling point came on this 3.66-mile Northamptonshire track when the pair collided two years ago. Verstappen went to hospital, and Hamilton, to the chagrin of Max and his family, celebrated after winning. That was a low point in relations, but nothing on the last-lap denouement in Abu Dhabi that is part of folklore.
‘I have a lot of British friends and people I know, and not everyone wants to boo me,’ Verstappen insists. ‘I have a lot of respect for Lewis. We are both racing drivers and you let the animosity go.’
It is partly the Dutchman’s nature not to worry himself with factors beyond his control, such as the actions or words of others. But there is more to his sense of contentment right now than this natural disposition.
He is king of the track, and looks likely to be for the foreseeable future. And what is even more soothing for his soul is that he feels he has nothing left to prove, declaring: ‘For me, it feels my career in Formula One is complete.’
He is just 25 but has amassed 42 wins, having taken seven out of nine victories this season and it looks as certain as the sun setting in the west that he will claim his third consecutive world title.
But after winning his first championship, he claims he is not unduly concerned by the incoming triple. ‘Once you have won it, winning it again is the same thing,’ he reasons. ‘The first is the most important. That was my ambition. Everything after that is a bonus.
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The Dutchman will likely be booed by the Silverstone crowd this weekend similar to last year
‘The hunger may be even greater now, but it is a healthier one. I don’t have numbers of race wins or titles in my mind as targets.’
There remains a fierce determination about Verstappen and, yes, a forthrightness when he needs it, but also a modesty about him. A major F1 star less likely to seek the limelight than Max is hard to think of — well, not since Jim Clark celebrated victory by returning to his Borders farm to tend his sheep.
A no-nonsense ethos was instilled in him by his father Jos, a former Benetton team-mate and friend of Michael Schumacher. The families were holiday companions in the south of France or in the snow in Norway. Max knew the original seven-time world champion as ‘Uncle Michael’.
Now the Jos-Max relationship is one of mates. But back then there was some tough love. ‘It was the work ethic behind racing that I learned from him,’ says Verstappen Jnr. ‘He taught me to be serious about what I was doing. That this isn’t a game. It was about looking after my future.
Verstappen says he has let his animosity with Lewis Hamilton go after their clashes
‘That started when I was seven or eight. Yes, I played with other kids in the evening, but I was encouraged to learn the mechanics behind it all, to see my dad build up the go-kart and really think about what we were doing rather than just sit in there and drive.’
Verstappen is signed up to Red Bull until the end of 2028, taking him into his early 30s. He has spoken recently of the calendar –—24 races next season and an increased number of sprints — as being a strain that may one day outweigh his enjoyment of motor racing’s premier series. He is even drawing up plans for a life beyond Formula One.
‘I could go now but while I’m enjoying it so much I won’t stop. But I am dreaming of having my own racing team outside F1 one day. I am really into sim racing. A lot of people don’t take it seriously, but I see a lot of potential in it.
‘There are a lot of kids who start in go-karts but it becomes so expensive from then on. We will try to create another way in through sim racing, which costs a lot less, not necessarily to Formula One but to being an awesome GT driver or endurance driver.’
Verstappen continued his rich vein of form as he was fastest in both practice sessions
Verstappen was fastest in both practice sessions on Friday, his rich vein of form continuing to swell. And if anyone should say it is all about the machinery, ponder why team-mate Sergio Perez is a chasm of 81 points back. Verstappen plays down his own role and hails the car. That is the modest champion we talked about.
But how long will it be before the pursuing teams catch up?
‘Hopefully never,’ Verstappen jokes. ‘With these regulations, and a limit to the aerodynamics, it is easier to catch up than before. Our ceiling is probably closer to our heads than it is for others.’
That is the sport’s prayer, but for now we should marvel at a performer in excelsis. He is worthy of cheers, not boos.
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