Taskmaster Helmut Marko Shows No Regret Over $55,000,000 Move Despite Max Verstappen’s Continuous Retirement Threat

Formula 1 became a true spectator sport since Liberty Media waved its wand over it. They reignited the interests of the audience again. While the new owners have worked their wonders, the ceiling of ‘enough’ keeps rising every year. And this pushing of the ultimate limits may leave the entities in the spotlight wary of continuing. A similar dilemma lies ahead of Max Verstappen, who threatened to quit the sport last week if the authorities change the format for ‘entertainment’. However, despite these threats, Red Bull probably will not lose any sleep.

The Dutchman has said he won’t be around long if Formula 1 continues to tweak the format. The tweaking in question comes after the development of a new structure of race weekend involving sprints. Sprints that were introduced two years ago have seen a double in numbers. We will witness a whopping six of them being organized this year. But understanding that Max Verstappen has the longest contract amongst the current F1 grid, Milton Keynes needn’t break a sweat. The RB Taskmaster has highlighted the same.

Helmut Marko, who is the advisor to the reigning champions, gloats over the fact that it was a brilliant move from the Austrian team to have locked Verstappen on a $55 million, 5-year contract. As quoted by GP Fans, he said, “That was one of the best decisions we made to sign such a long contract with him. That stability is very important for the team and Max now also has certainty.”

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The RB contract has tied down the reigning double-world champion. However, an F1 Pundit feels that even if Max vacates his seat, there will be hundreds queuing up to fill the prestigious one.

Sky Pundit fails to see why would a change in format make Max Verstappen stop

Martin Brundle has obviously echoed the dejected emotion of F1 meddling with the age-old format again and again. He questions the relevance of a Sprint race, which doesn’t have any effect on Sunday’s race as the new format will have a separate qualifying for the race. The Sky Sports analyst agrees with Verstappen’s words but does not understand why that would be a reason to quit.

Brundle said, ”I would be surprised, but if he doesn’t want to drive it, there are a million other people who would want to drive that Red Bull,” the Brit says. ”I think what he is trying to say is ‘Don’t mess around too much’. I get his point on that, but I don’t really see why that would make him stop.”, the former F1 driver concludes.

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What are your thoughts on this ever-increasing entertainment factor resulting in dissatisfaction among the stakeholders?