Verstappen to race in virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans
Red Bull Champion Max Verstappen is among the renowned personalities in motorsport that will compete in the forthcoming virtual Le Mans 24 Hours.
Max Verstappen
Red Bull told Jos Verstappen and Sainz Sr. to keep away from their sons in their rookie year
According to AlphaTauri team manager Graham Watson, Red Bull advised Jos Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Snr that they “really had to take a step back” when their sons joined the squad back in 2016.
2021 season revealed how F1 community can be ‘toxic’ and ‘scary’
In what was described as the biggest championship battle of all time, the 2021 season also revealed how dangerous and terrifying the F1 community can be.
Max Verstappen could be banned from racing in 2022
Max Verstappen is facing a potential one race ban if his rivalry with Lewis Hamilton continues into the 2022 season.
Verstappen explains relationship with ‘uncle Michael’
By winning his first world championship, Max Verstappen prevented Lewis Hamilton from breaking Michael Schumacher’s record of most championships. The Red Bull driver passed Lewis on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, denying him a record seventh Formula One world title. Max and Michael, on the other hand, have a bond that goes beyond Formula One. During the early 1990s, Michael and Max’s father, Jos Verstappen, were teammates at Benetton. Off the track, the two drivers developed a cordial friendship and would spend holidays together with their families. Max Verstappen refers to Schumacher as ‘Uncle Michael’ rather than a seven-time world champion. The 2021 world champion stated that hanging out with the former Ferrari legend was a completely different experience for him. Michael, he said, was really friendly and loving toward him. “I was three or four years old at the time. All I knew was that was Uncle Michael. He was very kind. He was such a wonderful family man. I never saw him as a world record-breaking champion because I didn’t realize it!” said Max. Max and Michael both have a similar outlook on life. Both drivers are tough on the race but laid-back and entertaining in their personal life. David Coulthard, a former Red Bull and McLaren driver, said that he admires Max Verstappen’s driving and that the Dutchman reminds him of Michael Schumacher. “He’s an exceptional human, an exceptional athlete. He’s brilliant and divisive. Who else do we know that’s brilliant and divisive? Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, to name but a few. So some have been able to do it.” Coulthard said.
Verstappen had a ‘very painful’ muscle cramp on the final title deciding lap in Abu Dhabi
Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen has revealed he was under intense pain on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The 24-year old Red Bull driver in an absolute turn of events overtook title rival Lewis Hamilton on the last lap winning the final race claiming the 2021 Championship title. Verstappen initiated the overtake on Turn 5 after the end of a controversial Safety Car that brought about a lot of criticism on the manner in which the Safety car situation was handled. Mercedes went ahead to protest the matter to the Race Stewards but was dismissed, however the team declared they have no intentions of appealing the matter further. With the issue put to rest, Verstappen was free to receive the championship trophy at the FIA Prize Giving Gala yesterday. The Red Bull driver admitted his chances to win the championship title seemed lost until the final lap when he pulled off an overtake on Hamilton. “Throughout that whole race we didn’t have the pace,” said Verstappen. “It didn’t look like we were going to win because the last few races we were just a bit behind. “But I never gave up. I always said to myself I’m not going to make it look easy for them. I’m just going to keep pushing and I’m going to try everything I can to at least keep the gap close. And that’s what we did.” Red Bull “did a great job with the strategy always putting new tyres on at the right time”, said Verstappen. That left him on fresh set of soft tyres at the end of the race while Hamilton had 44-lap-old hard rubber for what turned out to be a one-lap restart. “You do need a bit of luck sometimes,” Verstappen admitted. “When you look throughout the whole season, we had a lot of bad luck and I actually lost a lot of points already. So otherwise it would have been a completely different championship. But that’s always, you have the ‘ifs’. “So, going into that race and then seeing it was not happening, I wasn’t very happy at the time for 55 laps or something. But then we had one lap to go and I knew I had the better tyres on. I was like, ‘well, I have nothing to lose now.’” However, as he restarted the race in Hamilton’s slipstream, Verstappen was struck by a sudden pain. “I started to cross the line for the last lap and I got a massive cramp in my leg,” he explained. “So I had to deal with that in my throttle leg as well. “So when I was going to go for the move into turn five, I had a massive cramp. I was actually very happy there was a corner coming up because I could actually brake. But that was also then the move to go into the lead, which was great.” Having got ahead of Hamilton, Verstappen had to keep him behind through the runs to turns six and seven and again to turn nine. “There were two long straights to defend and to deal with a cramp like that is not very nice,” he said. “But I also knew that I’m fighting for a world championship here, and it’s always been my dream. So I was just biting through that moment. On TV you don’t see these kind of things but it was very painful. “Of course to then come over the line all the emotions came out. I didn’t even know what to say. We were just screaming. I never had so many people screaming into my earpieces. I think I’m still a bit deaf.”
FIA to conduct investigations on controversial Abu Dhabi finale
FIA World Motor Sport Council on Wednesday released a statement intending to investigate the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix season finale which was plagued by controversy amid receiving criticism. The Formula 1 season finale served as a championship title decider between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen who were currently level on points as they headed to the final race. With Hamilton taking the lead after a move on Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez, the Brit dominated the race and even extended the time margin ahead of Verstappen. However, things turned around on the final lap after a Safety Car was deployed following Nicholas Latifi’s crash. While Lewis Hamilton decided to stay out after the caution was out, Verstappen was called in by Red Bull for fresh soft tyres. Coming out, Verstappen found himself behind five lapped cars from the race leader. F1 Race Director Michael Masi later cleared the five cars between the title rivals to unlap themselves, a move that was controversial and widely criticised. Masi’s call left the race being a final lap showdown, and Verstappen running on fresher tyres pulled off an overtake on Hamilton claiming the race win and championship title. Mercedes tried to protest the controversial final lap events but the Race Stewards dismissed the matter leaving the team on crossroads on whether to appeal the race outcome officially. The FIA, in a statement issued on Wednesday evening said they recognised the fall-out from events in Abu Dhabi and the matter is “tarnishing the image of the championship” they also added that they will study what happened “with all relevant parties”, as proposed by President Jean Todt who is about to exit his post following the maximum 12 years in office. The statement read: “On Sunday, another FIA F1 World Championship season of competitive excellence concluded, and the credit goes to the participating drivers and teams. The FIA congratulates all of them for their performances in this year. It was a hard fight, and the best competition was displayed at each grand prix.” “The world watched every race with great anticipation, knowing in the end there could only be one winner. In this respect, many praised Max Verstappen for his victory, and Lewis Hamilton for his remarkable performance and sportsmanship after the closing event of the season.” “The 2021 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has prompted a large number of reactions from the F1 community and from motorsport in general, as well as in the public. The FIA’s primary responsibility at any event is to ensure the safety of everyone involved and the integrity of the sport.” “The circumstances surrounding the use of the Safety Car following the incident of driver Nicholas Latifi, and the related communications between the FIA Race Direction team and the Formula 1 teams, have notably generated significant misunderstanding and reactions from Formula 1 teams, drivers and fans – an argument that is currently tarnishing the image of the Championship and the due celebration of the first Drivers’ World Championship title won by Max Verstappen and the eighth consecutive Constructors’ World Championship title won by Mercedes.” “Following the presentation of a report regarding the sequence of events that took place following the incident on lap 53 of the grand prix and in a constant drive for improvement, the FIA President proposed to the World Motor Sport Council that a detailed analysis and clarification exercise for the future with all relevant parties will now take place.” “This matter will be discussed and addressed with all the teams and drivers to draw any lessons from this situation and clarity to be provided to the participants, media and fans about the current regulations to preserve the competitive nature of our sport while ensuring the safety of the drivers and officials.”
Hamilton’s name missing in the Sports Personality of the Year short-list, Verstappen nominated
Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton is missing on the short list for the Sports Personality of the year. This comes as the 36-year old missed securing his eighth Formula 1 title in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last weekend. The BBC holds the Sports Personality of the Year event annually on December with an aim to celebrate and acknowledge successful sportsmen and women in Britain. However, this time round Hamilton’s name did not appear for the award despite winning twice in previous years. The Brit’s hopes of winning a record eighth title were shattered on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took the lead. The move was very controversial as a late Safety Car put Verstappen directly behind Hamilton after clearing five lapped cars between the title rivals to overtake the Safety Car. The Race Control intervention widely received criticism as it saw the title fight fall in Verstappen’s favor. With Hamilton’s name missing in the Sports Personality of the Year shortlist, Max Verstappen was nominated for the International World Sports Star gong. The award acknowledges the successes of sportsmen from overseas. Some of the athletes that were nominated for the Sports Personality of the Year awards were tennis player Emma Raducanu who won the United States Open. Raducanu is a close friend of Hamilton besides being a Formula 1 fan. Tokyo games Olympic gold medalist Tom Daley was also nominated next to boxer Tyson Fury and 100m breaststroke gold medalist Adam Peaty.
Marko: We are yet to see the best of Max
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has claimed that Max Verstappen is still growing stronger after securing his maiden title in Abu Dhabi last weekend. In a dramatic season finale at Yas Marina, Verstappen snatched victory from title rival Lewis Hamilton on the final lap in a move that brought a lot of controversy considering Hamilton had dominated over most of the race. 24-year old Verstappen is not new to Formula 1 as he has been on the pinnacle of motorsports for seven seasons despite the young age. However, Helmut Marko believes that the new champ is yet to get to his ‘climax’. “He is a driver who I’m sure is not at the end of his abilities,” the Red Bull boss told the BBC. “We saw his qualifying performance at the last two races, in Jeddah and Abu Dhabi. He did qualifying laps that were so much more than the car could deliver.” “And that’s why we believe we haven’t seen the climax of Max Verstappen. The more he wins, the more relaxed he gets.” Max Verstappen made his debut back in 2014 just aged 17 years driving for the Red Bull junior Formula 1 team Toro Rosso(currently AlphaTauri) in the Japanese Grand Prix Free Practice. In the 2015, the Dutchman got a seat with the team before getting promoted to the senior team the following season. On his debut year with Red Bull, Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix. This proved to Red Bull that they were already having a champion. Helmut Marko also admits that he spotted the young talent in Formula 3 just 15 years old, adding that Verstappen’s fast learning and development impressed him. “The first serious discussion I had with him was when he was 15. I saw him in a Formula 3 race where he was so much better than anyone else,” said Marko. “It was wet and dry conditions and after this race, which he won by miles, I had a discussion with him for nearly two hours normally with a young person I talk for 20 minutes – and I was surprised what a mature human being he was in a very young body.” “His determination or his will to win…he knew what he wanted to do,” Marko continued. “We were talking about the future and so on and after two or three weeks we said ‘forget all the other junior activities, we go straight into Formula 1.”
Max Verstappen back on the track after maiden championship win
2021 Formula one champion Max Verstappen has gone back to work just a day after winning Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday claiming the world title. Amid night long celebrations for the newly crowned champion, business was back to usual at Yas Marina Circuit as the Formula 1 Post Season test is underway. Pirelli is currently conducting tests on 18 inch tyres for the 2022 season as Young drivers get a chance to test the 2021 Formula 1 cars. Formula 1 teams are also making preparations for the 2022 Formula one season with their regular drivers as they run on the 18 inch rims. Some drivers also got the first chance to run for their new teams following the 2022 driver line-up announcements made through the season by the teams. This include George Russell who switched from Williams to Mercedes replacing Valtteri Bottas who was taken in by Alfa Romeo. Indycar Arrow SP McLaren driver Pato O’ Ward was also given a chance to test with McLaren Formula 1 team for the first time. Red Bull was also not left behind as they got to test their junior driver Liam Lawson. However, the 2021 DTM runner up did not test with the Red Bull car but alternatively went out with AlphaTauri. Formula 2 driver Logan Sargeant was also backed by Williams for the test while his fellow driver in F2 Oscar Piastri made a test debut with Alpine. Another F2 driver expected to make a debut in Formula 1 is Guanyu Zhou who will partner with Bottas in Alfa Romeo. The Post Season test is scheduled to run for two days as preparations are underway for the 2022 F1 season.
Max Verstappen parties all night after championship win
After a thrilling and dramatic 2021 Formula 1 season finale in Abu Dhabi, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was crowned the champion after a last minute dash overtaking title rival Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen left nothing to imagination after clinching maiden Formula 1 title as celebrations for his victory kicked off almost immediately after the race. It was very evident his teammates at Red Bull were very overjoyed as they carried the new champ on their shoulders chanting songs and the party started. The team would later party all night and proved a little hard for Verstappen to leave early. The 24-year old found himself leaving the party at 0700 hrs local time as the sun was rising. Talking on a video call on Monday, the sleepy and tired Red Bull champion talked about the party. “All the emotions they come out… So it was a lot of fun. Of course when I woke up it wasn’t so fun. I maybe regretted that final drink,” Verstappen said. Verstappen also talked on receiving a congratulatory message from Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. “Toto sent me a text… congratulations on on the season and that I deserve to win it,” Verstappen said. “So that was very nice of him, of course. Emotions run very high to that last lap from both teams. It is what it is. We will see.” Mercedes lost its initial protests at the track on Sunday. One of the protests centered on whether Verstappen broke rules by passing Hamilton before the safety car period had ended, the other on the restart procedure itself, and the number of lapped cars that were given the green light to overtake the safety car. Mercedes argued Hamilton would have won the race if all had overtaken the safety car due to the time required, making a final lap showdown impossible. The confusion over the regulations and application of them has led to calls for greater clarity. “You’re going to look into what can we do or what should have been done,” Verstappen said. “This is with all kinds of decisions, isn’t it? The same in football with the referee. Should it have been a penalty, shouldn’t it have been a penalty? What can we improve? Should we have had a different camera angle? All these kind of things, you’re going to bring up, for sure.”
Mercedes appeals rejected by F1 Stewards
Formula 1 Stewards rejected two appeals lodged by Mercedes after Lewis Hamilton lost the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix race to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Verstappen won the last race of the season claiming his maiden Championship title after a controversial last minute move on Hamilton. The Dutchman was able to overtake the Mercedes driver on the final lap. Mercedes later launched a protest claiming that Verstappen initiated an overtake on Hamilton while the Safety Car was still on the track. The race stewards later dismissed the appeal citing that the pictures presented were inconclusive. Red Bull argued that Car 44 was not “overtaken” by Car 33, that both cars were “on and off the throttle” and that there were “a million precedents” under Safety Car where cars had pulled alongside then moved back behind the Car that was in front. Conclusions of the Stewards: The Stewards consider that the protest is admissible. Having considered the various statements made by the parties. The Stewards determine that although Car 33 did at one stage, for a very short period of time, move slightly in front of Car 44, at a time when both cars where accelerating and braking, it moved back behind Car 44 and it was not in front when the Safety Car period ended (i.e. at the line). The second appeal lodged by Mercedes was all about allowing lapped cars to overtake the Safety Car. After the Safety Car was brought out following Nicholas Latifi’s crash, Hamilton opted to stay on the track as Verstappen was called in to the pits for fresh tyres. Coming back to the track, the Red Bull driver was five lapped cars behind Hamilton. The Race Director later cleared the lapped cars to overtake the Safety Car, a move that directly landed Verstappen just behind Hamilton. Running on fresh soft tyres Verstappen had the advantage over Hamilton who had older tyres. The Race Stewards dismissed the protest stating that, Having considered the various statements made by the parties the Stewards determine the following: That Article 15.3 allows the Race Director to control the use of the safety car, which in our determination includes its deployment and withdrawal. That although Article 48.12 may not have been applied fully, in relation to the safety car returning to the pits at the end of the following lap, Article 48.13 overrides that and once the message “Safety Car in this lap” has been displayed, it is mandatory to withdraw the safety car at the end of that lap. That notwithstanding Mercedes’ request that the Stewards remediate the matter by amending the classification to reflect the positions at the end of the penultimate lap, this is a step that the Stewards believe is effectively shortening the race retrospectively, and hence not appropriate. Accordingly, the Protest is dismissed. The Protest Deposit is not refunded.