Verstappen evaluates F1 future amid technical shifts

Max Verstappen said he was taking his time in deciding his Formula One future and called recent rule changes merely a ‘tickle’ rather than what was really required.

Red Bull’s four-times world champion is no fan of the sport’s new engine era and has suggested he is unhappy enough to walk away.

The uncertainty around him has increased after McLaren announced the Dutchman’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase would be joining them by 2028 at the latest.

“I still have time and I’m taking my time,” Verstappen, 28, told reporters on Thursday ahead of the Miami Grand Prix weekend.

“What I said in Japan is still the same, but I also still have a lot of time.”

Verstappen said Lambiase’s move had no bearing on his future and there were no hard feelings.

He once said he would stop racing if Lambiase was no longer his race engineer, the voice in his ear over the team radio during the race, but he distanced himself from that stance on Thursday and made clear he would have to find someone else.

“Otherwise I don’t get to drive,” Verstappen said grinning. “I think also, you know, times change. I would be an idiot to try and keep him. It’s not only about me all the time.

“The future, that’s what we are looking at now. You know, with a different race engineer. I’m sure we’ll find solutions for that as well.”

On revised rules that come into force for the first time in Miami after agreement between all parties during the enforced April break, as a result of Middle Eastern races being called off due to the Iran war, he said they did not go far enough.

“We had some nice meetings with Formula One and the FIA,” Verstappen said. “I think that’s the starting point, hopefully for the future. Of course, with the changes that are made, I think it’s more like a tickle.

“I think everyone has tried their best to at least do something. But of course it won’t change the world. It’s a tickle. It’s not what we need yet to really make it (qualifying) flat out.”

The rule changes were made in response to concerns about driver safety and energy management.

Speaking at an official news conference, most drivers said the changes made to the levels of ‘super-clipping’ and of battery power harvesting would reduce dangers, but have little overall effect on the spectacle in the sport’s new hybrid era.

While Aston Martin’s Canadian driver Lance Stroll lambasted the new formula as “fundamentally flawed” and a thousand times less fun than Formula Three, others took a more positive approach. The conflict has stemmed from this year’s introduction of the 50-50 split between use of battery power and traditional engine power in an attempt to create a greener sport.

Many drivers feel the sport needs more naturally aspirated power from an engine and less from the battery.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” said Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg. “I’m curious to see how it feels and works on track now.”

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri said the collaboration had produced good changes, but added that he felt the chief problems could not be fixed without a fundamental overhaul of the hardware of the power units.

Agencies