"It would be nice": Max Verstappen gives his take on the prospects of Andretti joining F1

Max Verstappen felt it was difficult to comment on the potential of Andretti Formula Racing to join the grid. Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda in Qatar, the Dutchman empathized with the teams and their opinions but felt the American team had the merits to be in the sport.

Refraining from voicing an outright, frank opinion in his style, Max Verstappen was diplomatic while answering questions from the media about Andretti’s bid to join the grid.

The American racing team has cleared the FIA process of selection but is facing resistance from a majority of the teams, who feel devalued if another team were to join the grid.

Asked to voice his opinion on the Andretti entry and the resistance they face from existing teams on the grid, Max Verstappen said:

“I mean that’s why it is really very hard to comment on that. Because I speak from the driver’s side cause I’m not a team owner. So I can understand their side. But everything that Ive seen so far, plus the partners they have and the name, they’ve shown that they are a professional team. So it would be nice because it gives more opportunities for the drivers side."

He added:

"But I can understand from the teams side that they don't want it. It’s a tricky one, its a tough one. At the end of the day, the FIA, the teams and of course the FOM, they have more information about how serious is everything is and how well everything is prepared. That’s why I guess its not going to be a very easy decision to make.”

Always a motorsport purist, Max Verstappen has never held back his opinions on sporting matters or trackside issues. However, the Dutchman was empathetic with teams and their need to resist the American team’s entry into the sport.

According to the speculation and several opinions expressed by the teams, they have been reluctant to share the revenue of the sport and have a team on the grid that does not bring more value, such as another engine supplier on the grid.

Smaller teams such as Haas and Williams have been vocal about not wanting to reduce their share of F1 earnings, which will reduce after the addition of another team.

Speaking from a driver’s perspective, Max Verstappen felt that the Andretti team could create more opportunities for drivers. But he felt the teams, the Formula 1 management, and the FIA had a better understanding of what value the American team brings in.

In his personal opinion, he did feel the Andretti name had all the right partnerships, such as the Cadillac partnership, the Alpine engine partnership, and the finances to enter the sport. However, please, he believes it was a tricky subject for him to comment on.

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Max Verstappen believes he is far off from Michael Schumacher's statistics and feats

Max Verstappen claims he has always found it difficult to compare drivers, their achievements, and their titles. Asked how he felt to be on the way to matching Michael Schumacher at some point in his career, the Dutchman refrained from delving into the comparison.

While he joins the triple champion club when he wraps up the title in Qatar, the double champion admires the German champion’s achievements, which were downplayed back in the day due to a dominant car and team combination.

Answering the question about Schumacher’s feats and his own path to achieving the same, Max Verstappen said:

“He has won 7, thats another a few more to go. I think everyone, every generation is a bit different thats why I always find it hard to compare world champions or even non world champions. But everyone has been amazing in their own right. I think it is always, for example now to look back at all those kind of achievements, its incredible right, and when he was driving and achieve in all these things it was probably seen as a little bit more normal."

He continued:

"Because he was just an amazing driver with an amazing team and everything came together. Everyone at one point got a bit bored of it and thats why now looking back it, its really really incredible to achieve these kind of things.”

With 400 points to the championship tally, Max Verstappen is ready to seal the third title of his career in one of the most dominant seasons of his career. The double champion leads his teammate by a whopping margin of 177 points and is likely to wrap up the driver’s championship on Saturday itself if he wins the sprint.

The 26-year-old broke Sebastian Vettel’s record from 2013 of nine consecutive victories in a season and racked up his own statistic of 10 consecutive victories in a season.

If it weren’t for a track-specific car setup issue in Singapore, both Red Bull and the Dutchman would have seamlessly continued to rack up more statistics without any interruptions.