Despite Max Verstappen Threatening to Quit F1, Helmut Marko Sides With FIA’s Philosophy With Overtly Optimistic Justification

Would you have believed if we told you that Max Verstappen threatened to quit F1 over a minor inconvenience? No, right? Well, he actually did as FIA made changes to the race weekends. However, the Red Bull taskmaster went against his prodigy and shook hands with the FIA regarding the changes. Helmut Marko justified his actions as he spoke about the Dutchman’s retirement threats. Let’s figure out what the justification is.

F1 introduced sprint races in an attempt to make the weekend more interesting. After the initial skepticism, most of the drivers and TPs are in favor of the sprint. However, after a recent change to the format, Max Verstappen expressed his concern regarding the format. The 2X world champion suggested that this season is already very hectic with 23 races and adding sprints with changes makes it worse in terms of pressure and the load on the team. The Dutchman even went on to insist that he’ll leave the sport in many changes are made.

Nevertheless, the Red Bull taskmaster suggested that Verstappen will adjust to the changes. The championship leader is constantly uncertain about any changes which are made mid-season. Max Verstappen’s retirement threat might’ve been just to stall the FIA and F1’s sprint change decision as he feared losing out to competitors. Helmut Marko suggested that Max Verstappen will change his mind regarding the sprint changes as soon as he wins it.

According to motorsport.nextgen-auto, Helmut Marko said, “If he wins, he’ll immediately change his mind,” Talking in favor of the change in sprint format, Marko said “I see it differently. It’s better for the organizer on both Friday and Saturday, the paying audience is given a better show, and everyone has more action.”

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Helmut Marko’s comments suggest that he is in favor of sprint races. It makes the race weekend better and more interesting, giving the audience a better spectacle and value for money. However, Helmut Marko is not the only boss to speak fondly of Sprint as Guenther Steiner spoke in its favor as well.

Guenther Steiner proposes the idea to double the sprint races 

Guenther Steiner sees eye-to-eye with Helmut Marko as he supports the sprint proposal. The F1 rockstar is all for entertainment and suggested ideas to make the racing more competitive. The Italian suggested that if F1 isn’t able to sign a new team, then they should increase the number of sprints. Asking to double the sprints, Steiner gave the reason that there’s a lot of demand for races at this moment.

According to Motorsport.com, Guenther Steiner said, “I don’t know if we’ll do Sprint every race weekend. Maybe we’ll make a few more, or add them to half the calendar, but of course, F1 organizers know what to do. There’s a lot of demand for races right now, so how can you get more competition if we can’t race more than 24? Maybe the number of sprints should be doubled.”

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What do you think of Marko’s comments? Will Max like the new sprint format?