His own Formula 1 team? Max Verstappen turns down the premier class

Max Verstappen is a racer through and through: as if his job in Formula 1 weren’t enough, the Red Bull Racing star also runs his own racing team on the side. With Verstappen Racing, he is also chasing success outside the premier class, celebrating victories in both endurance and GT racing. In an interview with ‘Formule 1 Magazine’, the Dutchman recently spoke about his ambitions for his own team.

And Verstappen has big plans: when asked where he sees his team in the next 10 to 20 years, he replied as follows: “By then, it should be a professional racing team competing for victories in various racing categories. No more, no less. We won’t be competing just for fun. We want to be right up there fighting at the front, winning races, and at the very least consistently challenging for the top spots.”

His own career plans are crucial

The 71-time Grand Prix winner knows that how quickly these ambitious goals are achieved depends not least on his own activities as a racing driver. “Of course, it matters what decisions I make about my own career over the next few years and what I do in Formula 1.” And with regard to the possible racing series in which he might compete with his own team, he makes it clear: “The aim is definitely to expand our activities, particularly in the field of endurance racing, not in Formula 1.”

The reason for this is obvious: “That would be far too demanding,” says the Grand Prix star of the prospect of one day running a Formula 1 team. “I’d still be on the road for 24 race weekends a year, or at least very busy with my team. Of course, it’s possible to outsource some tasks. But I think that if, as team principal, you really want to get everything right, then you have to have everything under control and be there in person.”

“Of course, you also need people who can effectively handle the day-to-day business, but I’m not the sort of person who spends five races on the beach without knowing what’s going on. That would be too stressful for me, and I don’t want that,” emphasises the driver currently sixth in the World Championship.

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