Mar.8 (GMM) Max Verstappen arrived at race day in Melbourne having needed an X-ray on his hand after the strangest crash of his career, emotionally drained by what he called the worst cars he has ever driven, and openly hinting he would rather spend a free April racing at the Nurburgring.
The four-time world champion lost his car under braking in a way he said was completely alien to him. “To lose the car like that on the braking, I’ve never experienced that in my life,” he said of the qualifying incident.
The X-ray came back clear.
“I just had to get some X-rays done to see if my hands were ok, but nothing was broken,” said the Red Bull driver.
But the physical scare was secondary to the mental toll. Speaking to Dutch media, Verstappen was even rawer than when he recently called the new F1 like “Formula E on steroids”.
“I’m not having any fun at all. And that has nothing to do with where I qualified. Whether I was at the front or in the position where I am now, it doesn’t matter – as far as emotions and feelings are concerned, I’m completely empty.”
He drew a direct line back to what he experienced in the simulator a long time ago. “Back then, it already felt really bad, to the point where I didn’t want to get in anymore. And that’s how I feel now.”
On the cars themselves, Verstappen was withering. “You simply can’t drive naturally. Basically, you have to use as little throttle as possible everywhere to conserve battery power. And you have to approach certain corners differently to save energy on the exit.
“For me, that has very little to do with racing. Sure, you have to work with what you have. But what we have at the moment isn’t much.”
He was also irritated by leaks from the drivers’ briefing, where he is understood to have been particularly scathing in his criticism of the FIA. “It’s a little strange that you know this,” he told reporters.
“Drivers should keep their mouths shut. This is not exactly professional of the people involved.” He declined to elaborate on what he said inside the room. “I just said what I thought. If you look at the onboard images, you see enough.”
If the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix are cancelled due to the Middle East conflict, Verstappen made little secret of how he would fill the time. “Driving there is definitely more fun,” he said with a rare smile when asked about the Nurburgring.
He is understood to be working towards qualifying for the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring if the F1 calendar creates the space. “Whether I’ll actually do it, I just don’t know yet. That has to be worked out, in consultation with the team.”
A decision on the Gulf rounds is not expected for another week and a half, and paddock sources said on Saturday that freight for Formula 2 was being packed as normal – suggesting cancellation is far from certain.