Doubling Down on “Clown” Insult, Max Verstappen Trashes Subpar Las Vegas GP

Ever since Liberty Media got a hold of Formula 1, the fans have been blessed with more content than they could have ever imagined during Bernie Ecclestone’s reign. But it’s come at a cost for the drivers, a cost that Max Verstappen has not been willing to pay for quite some time.

The Dutch lion had previously voiced his concerns over the addition of the Sprint Race which catered more to fanfare than actual racing. But after F1’s long-awaited return to Las Vegas has come to a grinding halt, Max Verstappen is fuming. The reigning world champion has long advocated for simpler racing and less media drama. But he’s at his wit’s end after a mediocre outing under the Vegas lights.

99% show and 1% sporting event – Max Verstappen has had it with Sin City’s shenanigans

Earlier in the week, the Red Bull Racing driver was critical of how forced the opening ceremony felt for the drivers to be a part of. While it was great for the organizers to treat the spectators to a dazzling show with a star-studded lineup, the Dutch champion called the event a “99% show and 1% sporting event”. He also shared how being presented to the crowd on a pedestal made him feel, “For me, you can skip this. It’s not about the singers. We are just standing up there, looking like a clown”

And as if the pressure wasn’t already on the FIA and event organizers to move on from the show business side of things to racing, Free Practice 1 ended in a monumental disaster for the community. After training, Lawrence Baretto asked the No.33 Driver if he enjoyed the track and if the Las Vegas Street Circuit was fun.

Verstappen, who has probably clocked in countless laps on the simulator already, wasn’t too impressed by F1’s grand venue. “No, no. I’ve had better tracks in my life. I already said that yesterday. There’s nothing new that I discovered or whatever. But yeah. We just get on with it.” The Dutch Lion was not having fun reliving the Miami GP but on a grander scale, and preferred to just stick to good old racing.

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He also stated that it remains to be seen if Las Vegas will treat the RB19 like Singapore did or if it could be a walk in the park like every other weekend. But after the running in Free Practice 2, another contender has come out on top.

Verstappen and Co. find themselves in unusual territory

Even though Verstappen was a second behind front-runner Charles Leclerc during Free Practice 2, the morale was high in the Milton Keynes garage. Verstappen was quoted by formula1.com, “It’s slippery. Of course, we didn’t run a lot in FP1 so it took a bit of time to rubber in a little bit more. I think in the end it was a little bit better.” After Carlos Sainz suffered a major setback due to a dislodged water valve cover, the other drivers chose to be a bit more vigilant.

The Las Vegas GP is being held for the first time in 40 years, which means that the track layout had to be resurfaced with F1-grade asphalt that can handle cars flying at speeds over 200mph. But the FIA expects track temperatures to be so low that the teams will be using Pirelli’s softest tire compounds for the Las Vegas GP.

Verstappen shared that the soft tire seemed to be the best over one lap, but the long run proved to be difficult in terms of tire wear on both the soft and medium compound tires. Verstappen was still hopeful they would have it figured out, however.

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Strangely, the tire degradation is plaguing the reigning champions quite a bit, even after Verstappen had stated the RB19 beat the MCL60 in Brazil due to superior tire wear. Only time will tell if the Milton Keynes garage has things figured out or if Verstappen wishes to forget all that will happen in Vegas this weekend.