Max Verstappen is the king of savage answers. The Dutchman humorously told his eSports team, Redline, about the timings of the Sprint race in Spielberg. While Verstappen sounded confused about when the sprint race would occur, he gave a hilarious response. After qualifying for the sprint, the 26-year-old hung out with his team Redline. And this is when the ‘blunder’ took place.

During their Twitch livestream session, the stream presenter asked Max if he’d participate directly in the Austrian Grand Prix’s qualifying. The Red Bull No. 1 reminded that he needed to race for the sprint before it, but the ‘epic moment was yet to happen. Interestingly, Max Verstappen himself couldn’t remember when the sprint was commencing! He further shrugged off the topic saying “We have the race at 11, I think it is. I don’t know man, 11…Who cares?“

Verstappen’s savage reply is speculated to be a clear message for F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali. Max disapproves of this weekend’s racing format. Hence, this ‘I-don’t-care’ attitude. Initially, he recalled the race time to be 11 am but later corrected himself and answered: “Oh no, it’s at 12, nice!”

The three-time world champion was the fastest individual in the weekend’s first and only practice session. He was also able to secure a pole during the sprint qualifying. The race to P1 wasn’t easy, as McLaren’s Lando Norris was only 0.093 seconds away from Verstappen. However, this is not the first time when the Dutch expressed discontent for sprint weekends.

Throwback to when Max Verstappen spoke against sprint weekends

Last year, in November, Max Verstappen had openly called out the sprint weekend concept. This happened after Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified from the 2023 US Grand Prix due to technical breaches. Later, Hamilton and Leclerc even complained that they didn’t have time to set up the car as there weren’t enough practice sessions. Speaking in favor of his rivals, Verstappen had stated: “We should just get rid of the sprint weekend and then everyone can just set up their cars normally. It wouldn’t have happened that we would have had a normal race weekend.”

For some, sprint races do not add any value to the sport. A shorter version of the main race, before the main race, can be nothing but an added burden to the teams. “These things only happen when you have a sprint weekend where everything is so rushed into your in-between FP1 and qualifying,” Verstappen further explained on the matter.

Above all, Max Verstappen dislikes sprint weekends. His cold response about the timing of the sprint race in Spielberg portrayed sheer disinterest. While Verstappen’s disapproval is evident, and he doesn’t hesitate to express it; however, he will very much be on track to prove his dominance. As for now, the scene is set at the Austrian Grand Prix. At the same time, Verstappen recalling his past statements on sprint weekend also highlighted the debate on this format within the F1 community.

What are your thoughts on Sprint races? Share your opinion in the comments.