Max Verstappen Slyly Dragged Down by Formula E CEO to Boost Their Viewership Against F1

On the 21st of February, 2024 – Formula E CEO Jeff Dudds bet $250000 (to charity) that none of Max Verstappen‘s rivals could beat him to the 2024 F1 World Championship. Judging by the Red Bull racer’s performance in the opening two race weekends, Dudds’ quarter of a million dollars might be safe. But the Formula E boss is not done talking about Verstappen yet.

It is no secret that the 2024 season might entirely belong to Max Verstappen and Red Bull. The 3-time champion won the Bahrain GP with a lead of over 22 seconds and the Saudi Arabia GP with over 13 seconds to his teammate Sergio Perez. Many fans have termed F1 as ‘boring’ too owing to this gap. Dudds has used this example to show how Formula E has an edge over F1. And why the viewers should shift to the electric category over F1.

“We are very focused on maintaining our competitive nature,” Dudds said, as quoted by Soymotor. “I know I’ve made a bet recently, where you’ve seen about Max Verstappen sure to win, about how confident I am that he’s going to win the World Championship this year. A lot of people said at the time that they didn’t have any arguments to think like that. But look, he’s already got two wins in two races. Now it seems like the question is whether he can win all 24. We don’t want to be that kind of sport.”

He further delved into the contrast between the 2 motorsports categories. “I think we’ve had eight different winners in our nine seasons. Most of them have also been decided in the last race. We know that fans love competitiveness and when it starts to leave, the fans disappear.”

Dudds is playing a smart game trying to use F1’s imbalance to Formula E’s advantage. Moreover, this isn’t the first time that a Red Bull driver has been the subject of a Formula E Chief’s comments.

Max Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez received an offer to quit Red Bull and join Formula E

Sergio Perez had been the center of all criticism in 2023. We saw him drop from fighting for wins to playing second fiddle to Verstappen. Though he secured P2 in the driver’s championship, the winter break speculations weren’t too kind to him either. Amidst all this, Formula E CEO Alberto Longo opened the doors to Perez’s arrival in the electric category.

“I talk to Checo constantly and I hope he makes a leap to the real competition,” Longo told Spanish publication AS. “Formula E is his home, the doors are open to him and he is welcome.”

Read More: Christian Horner: I Can’t Force Max Verstappen to Stay Against His Will – EssentiallySports

Looks like Formula E has quite an affinity towards Red Bull. Nonetheless, F1 shouldn’t suffer as big a hit in viewership as long as their rivals keep closing the gap.