Martin Brundle missed the point with his message to Max Verstappen

Martin Brundle has said he’s become “bored” of Max Verstappen’s ongoing criticisms of the new regulations, saying the four-time F1 World Champion is being “damaging” for Formula 1.

The Dutch driver has been one of the most outspoken critics of the new regulations, which he labelled as “anti-racing” during pre-season testing in Bahrain, but his stance resulted in Sky F1 presenter Martin Brundle calling upon the four-time F1 World Champion to either get on with it, or leave the sport.

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Verstappen has remained consistent in his assessment of the new regulations ever since first climbing behind the wheel of his new RB22 during the Barcelona shakedown in January.

The Dutch driver has been cutting in his assessments, saying that he believes the regulations are the antithesis of what racing is all about, and has made it clear that he is finding the new-look Formula 1 extremely unenjoyable.

It must be emphasised that his lack of enjoyment stems solely from the driving dynamics required of the new regulations, rather than his environment or the lack of competitiveness of Red Bull, with the four-time F1 World Champion saying that, even with a race-winning machine, his stance would remain unchanged.

But, after three Grand Prix weekends, Verstappen’s comments have evolved to the point where his very future in Formula 1 appears in doubt beyond this year, such is his level of discontent.

Sources have suggested that, as in keeping with his usual directness, Verstappen’s allusions to stepping away from Formula 1 – whether that be for a sabbatical of something more permanent – are no idle threat.

The topic of Verstappen’s future was brought up on Sky F1’s latest ‘The F1 Show’ podcast, where Martin Brundle said that he’s become bored of hearing the negativity from the Dutchman.

“The drivers’ love and comments are directly proportional to how their cars are going at the moment,” Brundle claimed.

“I don’t say that in a negative or flippant way, because they’re all hardwired to win, but it’s quite clear that if your car is rubbish and you’re not anywhere near the front, you’re more vociferous than those that are at the front.”

Verstappen is far from the only driver to voice concerns about the new regulations, and, indeed, outright positivity about the driving dynamics required is negligible.

“Max is very unfiltered. He always has been. He’s talked a lot, for a long time, about, ‘I’m not in this for the long haul. I’m not going to be hanging around here in my 40s,” he said.

“And Max would say it’s getting a bit boring now. I think it’s getting a bit boring with what he’s saying. Either go, or stop talking about it.

“Because it is what it is, you’ve got to make the most of it. I would hugely miss his talent. His generational speed and car control are something that very few people in the history of motorsport have had. It’s quite extraordinary.

“And I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that, given they [Red Bull] were building their own powertrain for the first time, that his management would have put in an exit clause at the end of this year to see how it goes.

“Mercedes is saying, ‘No, there’s no place at this particular inn at the moment’. So, quite what he would do, I don’t know.

“Nobody’s indispensable in this business. I’ve seen a number of amazing people come through this sport and are no longer with us, or moved on and have done something else, and the sport carries on. The great Murray Walker would be one of them.

“And this goes for any of us. The minute we stop, people will be talking about whoever’s doing the job next. There are any number of Antonellis, Bearmans, and Lindblads out there who would do the job incredibly well for one per cent of the money.

“So the sport will just move on if Max decides to go. But he’s sort of doing quite a lot of damage, meanwhile. But I think we all appreciate that’s how Max rock and rolls. I’d be surprised if he’d really walk away from it.

“Do I think he’d just walk away from F1? No, I don’t. Providing he can get a car that pleases him.

“His points are brutally made, but actually well made, that this is just wrong at the moment. But, what a Schumacher would have done is close the door, thumped the desk, metaphorically got hold of the right people by the throat, walk out, and with a smile, go, ‘Everything’s fine’.

“And then if they don’t sort it out, which we’re looking forward to for Miami, then you start going on to the media.

“But that’s not how he does things. So that’s emptying my mind on the subject.”

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It’s alarming that legitimately voiced concerns are being so easily swept aside with the argument of “don’t like it, walk away”, given that Verstappen is merely one of many prominent voices making their stances clear.

Indeed, the Dutch driver’s very obvious love for all things motorsport – as evidenced by his extra-curricular racing on weekends off from Formula 1 – makes him perhaps one of the most reliable voices of reason when it comes to assessing the state of Formula 1 as it stands.

If a driver who lives for all things racing and motorsport sees no merit or value in continuing to race in Formula 1, due to the regulations, and that stance is not being influenced by the competitive state of play, then why does it appear unimaginable that it’s an honest assessment?

“I can easily accept being in P7 or P8 where I am,” he told the BBC after the Japanese Grand Prix. “Because I also know that you can’t be dominating or be first or second or whatever, fighting for a podium every time.

“I’m very realistic in that, and I’ve been there before. I’ve not only been winning in F1, but at the same time, when you are in P7 or P8, and you are not enjoying the whole formula behind it, it doesn’t feel natural to a racing driver.

“Of course, I try to adapt to it, but it’s not nice the way you have to race. It’s really anti-driving. Then at one point, yeah, it’s just not what I want to do.

“And of course, you can look at it and make a lot of money. Great. But at the end of the day, it’s not about money any more because this has always been my passion.”

Given that there are ongoing meetings, including discussions at the F1 Commission and the Power Unit Advisory Committee [PUAC], to further address concerns and evaluate ways to improve the current situation, a dismissal of comments made by the preeminent driver of his generation smacks of an attempt to brush those concerns aside as paltry and individualistic, unique somehow to Verstappen.

Brundle’s assessment that the sport as a whole is greater than any given individual is, of course, accurate, but it’s not as though Verstappen is shouting into the void as the sole contrarian.

Perhaps, if Verstappen were the only driver voicing concerns, then Brundle’s comments would be fair. But, at a time when all the World Champion drivers are indicating a lack of enjoyment of the dynamics, one has to wonder why it is that Brundle has chosen to single him out for causing “damage”, merely for remaining steadfast in his beliefs – Verstappen doesn’t work for F1’s public relations department, and, ostensibly, neither does Brundle.

Certainly, it’s not as though the Dutch driver is going around merely volunteering these opinions to the nearest microphone, unprompted. He is being asked these questions in media sessions and broadcaster interviews, and, given nothing has changed with regard to the regulations, why would his opinion have changed?

His recent bombshell interview with Jennie Gow saw him speak with calm, measured rationality about why he is threatening to walk away from Formula 1.

“I’m thinking about everything inside this paddock,” he said.

“Privately, I’m very happy. You also wait for 24 races. This time it’s 22. But normally 24. And then you just think about, is it worth it? Or do I enjoy being more at home with my family? Seeing my friends more when you’re not enjoying your sport?”

“As a kid, this is what I wanted to do and back then, I had no idea what I was going to achieve and how much money you make. You never think about that as a kid. And it’s also not about that.

“I want to be here to have fun, have a great time and enjoy myself. At the moment, that’s not really the case.

“Of course, I do enjoy certain aspects. I enjoy working with my team. It’s like a second family. But once I sit in the car, it’s not the most enjoyable, unfortunately.

“I’m trying. I keep telling myself every day to try to enjoy it. It’s just very hard.”

What would it say about the current F1 regulations that they could inspire Verstappen to leave in favour of other motorsport series? That is the question that Brundle should be raising, rather than merely urging Verstappen to put up with it.

After all, would Verstappen walking away, as the regulations currently stand, actually fix anything? Why is a Formula 1 without an in-his-prime Verstappen a more palatable option than seeing a drastic overhaul of milquetoast regulations that have caused more issues than have cured?

As for Brundle positing that “any number of Antonellis, Bearmans, and Lindblads” can do the job “incredibly well”, there’s no doubt that the three young drivers he’s mentioned are extremely talented and could be set for great things in the sport – but none are proven four-time F1 World Champions.

Does Brundle believe seeing Verstappen in another series, perhaps attacking Le Mans or the World Endurance Championship, somehow makes the Dutch driver’s damning assessment less relevant? Suggesting that Verstappen is easily replaceable by the likes of Antonelli, Bearman, or Lindblad, drivers who are merely in the ‘promising’ stages rather than the ‘elite, generational talent’ stage, not only devalues him as a driver but also the very scale of the sporting accomplishments and titles he’s achieved along the way.

With the new regulations taking away a driver’s ability to commit to a corner, sapping the physics away in favour of energy management for the straights – a part of the track that all the drivers are equally talented – Brundle’s dismissal of Verstappen’s complaints is baffling, with the British broadcaster’s own assessment of the new regulations erring on the side of positivity.

“Clearly, we’ve got a lot of work to do with these new regulations, the new cars, to make them more linear to drive, so that the driver feels they’re fully in charge and not relying on AI, algorithms, and other things going on underneath,” he said.

“We need to somehow share the battery out a bit better around the lap and other things… some of the overtakes, obviously, were just too battery-driven. Others, I really enjoyed the action.

“I enjoyed seeing, again, the Ferraris pouring into Turn 1 side by side, almost touching. Really good, clean, hard racing. So it’s in there. It’s available, if we can just get it right and get the battery, the deployment, and all the words we hate actually using sorted out.”

As I wrote about last week, Sky F1‘s editorial choice of exclaiming the new regulations as being a beacon of motorsport excellence has been baffling, but there is a distinct difference between extolling the positivities of the new rules as a standalone voice and putting it out there that a four-time F1 World Champion’s opinion has somehow become “boring”, merely because Verstappen has chosen to remain honest in his assessments, rather than pretending all is well for the sake of preserving the sport’s image.

Perhaps, if Verstappen does choose to walk away, the reality of just what is actually damaging to the sport will become clearer. It certainly isn’t Max’s opinion.

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