“I Blame F1”: Despite Scripting History, Max Verstappen Lets Disdain Known for Revolutionary Move

The Qatar Grand Prix saw the fourth sprint race of the season. Held on a Saturday, Max Verstappen needed only 3 points over Sergio Perez to seal the title. And he did so with relative ease. Perez crashed out of the sprint, leaving the Dutch driver an easy victory. But the three-time world Champion ironically won in a race format that he absolutely detests.

Sprint races in Formula 1 were introduced in 2021. The short spectacle is a 100 km dash around a circuit that was brought in to provide short, yet fast-paced entertainment and it had people divided. In 2021, there were only three sprint races, but this year they have been doubled to six. However, Verstappen finds the Sunday race much more entertaining than the Saturday Sprint.

Saturday’s win for Max Verstappen but no celebrations till Sunday

Usually, the World Driver’s Championship’s trophy is lifted on a Sunday. Teams celebrate the same on a Monday, and maybe a little bit on a Tuesday. But Max Verstappen is an unconventional racer from the start. With his title sealed on a Saturday evening in Qatar, a win in the Grand Prix race for Sunday was still awaiting. Sitting down with David Coulthard, an ex-racer himself, Verstappen opened up about his post-title-winning victory celebrations.

He revealed that he had a little time with the team, but there weren’t any celebrations because of a pending Grand Prix Race. He said, “I blame F1 for that, introducing the sprint weekends.” Verstappen has been vocal about his disdain for the sprint format ever since its fruition in 2021. In an earlier interview, he said, “Every time I do these races, it’s about ‘don’t get damage, make sure you stay in the top three.'”

“For me, that’s not really a race, because you go into the main race and you know there are way more points available anyway, you just risk a bit more there,” the Red Bull driver stated. During the sprint races, points are awarded to only the first three finishers. Three points for P1, Two for P2, and one for P3. The remaining drivers go back sweaty and empty-handed.

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Elaborating further on his unusual win on a Saturday evening, the Dutch driver said, “Yeah, I don’t know. I think these kinds of things are not in your control right? It just, of course, I tried to score as many points as possible and that made it of course, possible to win it on a Saturday but it was okay.” 

The records that Verstappen has shattered

Max Verstappen is the second driver in the history of Formula 1 to have won a championship title on a Saturday. Ironically, it was his partner, Kelly Piquet’s father, who did it first. Nelson Piquet won not one but two of his three titles on a Saturday. The Red Bull driver also joined him as a three-time world champion. Truly, a family of racing legends.

Max Verstappen is a name for history books. He entered F1 when he didn’t even have a driver’s license. He won his first Grand Prix when he was 18. The Red Bull racer is now a three-time world champion. He is in his absolute dominant spirit. Winning 14 of the 17 races this season, he has broken Vettel’s record for the most consecutive wins.

The Dutchman has the most wins of a season in F1 history. He has the most points of any driver in a season, amassing a total of 417  with a few races still left. The Red Bull driver has led the most percentage of laps, breaking Jim Clark’s long-held record. It is Verstappens’s third title in a row that promoted him to the elite club of drivers that includes, Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost, Sebastian Vettel, and Lewis Hamilton.

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Max Verstappen is an unstoppable force. He has revolutionized Formula 1 as a sport. At just 26 years old, one can only begin to imagine the records he could shatter going ahead. The Dutchman is also brutal in his opinions. But what do you think? Does the Saturday sprint take away from the Sunday race? Or does it make things spicy?