Formula 1 cannot afford to lose Max Verstappen: the sport is trying to keep him
Mark Webber, former Red Bull driver and current manager of Oscar Piastri, has underlined the importance of Max Verstappen’s presence in Formula 1. Webber believes that Verstappen’s personality and his ability to push rivals to improve are crucial for the sport.
“Looking at the sport as a whole, when you have someone like him, personalities like Verstappen are exactly what the sport needs. We need these kinds of people. Fans turn on the TV for Max Verstappen, and Liberty knows it. The teams know it. It’s important.”
“It’s really important to keep Max in the sport because he is raising the level of every driver on the grid, and that is what Formula 1 is all about. You need to be constantly pushed to improve. Of course I want Max to stay in Formula 1. But if the motivation starts to decrease for him, combined with his experience — and I’m not saying for one second that he is losing motivation — but naturally those things gradually fade, then he has earned the right to make his own choices.”
Max Verstappen himself has expressed dissatisfaction with the new Formula 1 2026 regulations, particularly the heavy dependence on battery power, which he believes takes away from the driving experience.
“My car is a little bit better, but what I said before about the regulations is still the same. You still have to slow down in certain places to go faster afterward. It’s still not how I would like it to be. It still punishes you. The faster you go through the corners, the more you slow down on the following straight. It shouldn’t be like that.”
The tension between Max Verstappen’s purist view of racing and the sport’s push for hybridized sustainability creates a significant risk for Liberty Media. As Mark Webber pointed out, Verstappen isn’t just another driver; he is a benchmark that forces the entire grid—from veterans to rookies—to evolve. If the 2026 regulations lead to a “tactical” style of driving that bores the three-time champion, F1 faces the very real possibility of losing its most magnetic and polarizing figure at the height of his powers.
Mark Webber suggests that Max has earned the right to walk away if the sport no longer provides the right “stimuli.”
Do you think Formula 1 should prioritize keeping its top stars happy when writing the rules, or is the technical evolution of the sport more important than any individual driver’s preference?
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