Former F1 Champion On Max Verstappen's Retirement Threats: "He Should Stop Now"

Former F1 champion Damon Hill has spoken out on Max Verstappen's retirement threats on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, arguing that the two-time champion is "not having fun".

Verstappen has been open about his disagreement with the sprint race weekends and also the idea of adding more and more races into a season, threatening to retire if it gets out of hand.

The Dutch driver commented on it again in Melbourne at the Australian Grand Prix. He explained:

“I hope there won’t be too many changes, otherwise I won’t be around for too long.

“I am not a fan of it at all. When we do all that kind of stuff, the weekend becomes very intense and we already do a lot of races.

“I understand they want to make every day exciting but they should reduce the weekend, and only qualify and race on Saturday and Sunday and make those two days exciting.

“We’re heading into seasons where you have at one point 24, 25 races, because that’s where we’re going to head into and if we start adding even more stuff, it’s not worth it for me anyway. I’m not enjoying that.

“And for me, a sprint race is all about surviving. It’s not about racing. 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 just 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 have an amazing Sunday, a good long race distance, and 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 action has been good.”

Hill was joined by Sky Sports F1 pundit Simon Lazenby and producer Jess McFadyen on the Sky Sports F1 podcast. The trio discussed the likelihood of Verstappen's retirement. Hill commented on the sprint races:

“I think there’s an element of this with Max with him wanting not to waste his time on superfluous things that really are just invented for novelty reasons.

“I think he’s that kind of person. So I can imagine him just saying it because he just thinks ‘well, I just come here and want to win Grand Prix. I just want one race to mean something. I don’t want to have a half-value race, what’s the point of that on your CV? People aren’t gonna go ‘how many Grand Prix have you won? Now how many Sprints have you won?'”

McFadyen argued that the two-time champion will continue with the Red Bull team whilst he is still enjoying it. She explained:

“This is the guy who said he’s completed Formula 1 after winning his first championship.

“He’s like an old-school racer, but he’s like ‘What else do I need to prove? I’ve done it.’ He’s having fun, and I think his point is that he’ll keep doing it while he’s having fun.”

However, Hill questioned whether he is still enjoying the sport. He responded:

“Max’s retirement threat is very unusual. It is kind of strange to hear, isn’t it? I mean, what’s he gonna do with himself?

“He should stop now, really. Stop now – he’s done it! You mentioned fun – I think that’s 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.”

McFadyen went on to discuss how increasing the number of races in a season will impact the drivers, saying that is also what Verstappen is upset about. She explained:

“That’s what he’s saying – if we’re adding more races, putting more strain on drivers, more travel, and then you’re adding these mini races into that mix, I think that’s what he was upset about.

“He’s saying that, what I’m being paid for, what we are agreeing, is my base rate. You’re now asking me to do more and more and more.

“With that, and with all the added interest, doing more media stuff and everything that comes with that, I think what he’s saying is there’s gonna come a point where he doesn’t want to do any of it.”

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