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One of Max Verstappen's sponsors, Jumbo, recently announced that they will be terminating all their sponsorships from every motorsport team. They, however, mentioned that they will be keeping their sponsorship with the young Dutchman.
Jumbo is a supermarket chain in the Netherlands and a major sponsor of the incumbent F1 world champion. In September, the company's CEO, Frits van Eerd, was arrested amid ongoing investigations into money laundering. Hence, the company had to bring in a new interim CEO, Ton van Veen, who announced how Jumbo will be reducing its sponsorships, especially in the motorsport sphere. He said:
“Motorsport did come to us in a special light. That also affects our sponsorship in motorsport. We will not continue with that for long. We will look critically at our activities in motorsport in the same way. An exception is the contract with Max Verstappen.”
The supermarket chain will also be stopping its sponsorship with Red Bull Racing. This could greatly affect the Austrian team as they have already faced a heavy fine from the FIA for overspending in the 2021 F1 season. They will, however, continue to sponsor Max Verstappen. Surprisingly, neither the interim CEO nor any other spokesperson revealed the reason behind keeping the Dutchman's sponsorships while removing other motorsport teams and drivers.
The investigation into the money laundering case is still ongoing and no concrete verdict has been announced by the Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM).
Max Verstappen shares his thoughts on racing against Lewis Hamilton
After a fierce 2021 F1 season, almost every fan and pundit overanalyses and tenses up whenever Max Verstappen battles Lewis Hamilton in any race. The Dutchman, however, recently expressed his dislike towards the special reaction that both drivers receive whenever they race each other.
Verstappen explained how he has raced aggressively with other drivers as well, but after 2021, his battles with the seven-time world champion are always observed under a magnifying glass. During an interview with Motorsport, the reigning world champion said:
“I have to be careful what I’m saying here. But with everyone I’ve been fighting, it’s been really hard, aggressive battles and we never really came together. Somehow, with Lewis, it’s a different story. And I honestly don’t understand.”
He further added:
“I always respect Lewis a lot for what he has achieved in the sport, but that’s why I don’t really understand why we cannot really race like I’ve been doing with the others.”
Despite a fierce rivalry with Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen has a lot of respect for the seven-time world champion. He expressed how he would like to take their battles like any other and not make a huge deal out of it. He also revealed how he has to be extra careful with his words whenever he battles Hamilton, simply because some of his statements could be taken the wrong way, especially in the UK.
