“F1 calendar is extremely brutal,” Mika Hakkinen feels Max Verstappen could potentially part ways with Red Bull in future years of F1
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Mika Hakkinen and Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen, the two-time F1 World Champion has got a contract with the Red Bull team until 2028, but despite this fact, F1 legend, Mika Hakkinen believes that the Dutchman could move away from his team in the future years of the sport.
Max Verstappen with his 2022 title triumph, has become only the 17th driver to get his name etched on the Championship twice, and with him being only 25 years old, he has got quite a few titles awaiting for him in the upcoming years.
However, Mika Hakkinen thinks that, despite Max being in a strong outfit like Red Bull, he could decide to part ways with the team because of the increase in the number of races year after year.
While stressing about the same Hakkinen added, “Verstappen has a long contract with Red Bull. A multi-year contract, it’s positive because it shows he has faith in the team.”
“As I said, they have good technicians and designers, but the F1 calendar is extremely brutal.“
He further adds, “All those races are incredibly consuming, many of the women and men have families. The traveling is gruesome. They want to spend time with their kids and families.”
“It may happen that people – who are in very important positions, the head of the technical department – can suddenly say they’ve had enough and can’t continue anymore. It can be a problem, in my opinion.”
Mika Hakkinen’s take on Max Verstappen’s lifestyle
Hakkinen, being a former F1 driver, knows all too well about the kind of lifestyle that drivers have, and believes that the kind of perks that F1 drivers get are way more lavish as compared to the other personnel on the team.
While stressing about it, Hakkinen added, “The drivers have their private jets, there’s a car waiting for them. It’s a whole different lifestyle.”
The Finnish feels that the way the F1 calendar is expanding year after year, a point is going to come where some of the members of the various F1 teams might decide to quit because of the workload, and if this happens at Red Bull, then Max Verstappen might also look to switch teams.
However, Max has been with Red Bull since 2015 and considering the way things are going for the team recently, it is hard to imagine the Dutchman moving away from the Milton-Keyes-based team anytime soon.
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Rishabh Negi
(3244 Articles Published)