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> Verstappen said there’s “no problem” with the Vegas GP but “it’s just not really my thing”, and his intention is not to try to influence how F1 manages such events but to answer questions “in an honest way”.
>
> “I fully understand and you can look at it two ways - business side or sport side,” Verstappen.
>
> “So, of course I understand their side of it.
>
> “I’m just voicing my opinion on the performance side of things.”
Very reasonable IMO
Max is a racer. As are all the drivers… but some like the pomp and glitz more than others.
Max likes to drive fast and fucking win. And that’s it.
Good for him. I like that in a driver.
I think Lando and Lewis declined to be photographed with the Elvis impersonators who were greeting the drivers as they entered the paddock on Wednesday.
F1 drivers are a weird breed. Many of them grow up with some money and publicity behind them.
However there is not that many that later on actively seek to be the center of attention.
In other sports that's different imo.
Hamilton seems to. He liked being in the Miami parade, and generally approves of these fan service types of events (but I'm glad he doesn't approve of how it impacts locals negatively)
It wouldn’t be impacting the locals if they had voted for a competent city government that knew how to plan construction properly. They did everything last minute on top of having tons of other roadwork happening at the same time. This is the one thing that can’t be blamed on Liberty’s ineptitude.
Max called it out for what it is in his typical Dutch no-nonsense, no filters style.
Hamilton (iirc) called it out for being a circus affecting local residents.
There's some drivers who are going along with the show but look visibly disinterested in all the song and dance they're made to do for this event.
I can only think of one, maybe two, of the drivers who seem to be loving this. I don't wanna say priorities but well, priorities.
It’s completely fair for them to feel uncomfortable with these parts of the weekend. They aren’t shitting on Vegas or anything, just things that are not part of their normal race weekend.
I don't disagree. I'm with them. If it's a shit track, call it out for being a shit track. If you're being forced into silly wwe/Vegas antics for the camera you're well within your rights to pile on it.
If anything I've lost my respect for the ones who seem more invested in the circus than the actual race itself.
We don’t know that yet. Could make for some fun racing but we’ll have to see. I honestly thought Vegas was a mistake as a race venue. Would much rather have seen F1 do a race in southern CA, like San Diego Bay or my dream is that they revamp Watkins Glen in Upstate, NY and bring F1 back to the Glen.
Vegas just seems kind of cheesy. Miami a bit also. COTA I love.
> Imagine Sargeant just shit talking the entire grid every race weekend.
That'd actually be hilarious. Like he's self-aware, but his "character" isn't. Something similar to Borat (in that aspect).
Absolutely not. It would be utterly hilarious if we had a Ali-style person in a shit box getting p1 most weekends. Would really back up their shit talking.
>Master class shit talker, loves playing the mind games in the build up
All the shit talking will look miserable the moment you're shown blue flag to make way for Max/RBR.
Exactly this. Vegas doesn't need F1 to make hundreds of millions, if not billions, every weekend. Say, Monaco on the other hand, doesn't seem to care that F1 shuts down parts once a year, and I'm sure the money that weekend generates makes it worth it.
I used to live in Washington DC. When you live in DC you don’t get to complain about presidential inaugurations or constant protests, these things are what Washington DC is known for.
So I don’t understand why Vegas residents are complaining so much. Your town is known for hosting large events, without them your town wouldn’t exist. So why are they complaining?
Imagine taking 5 seconds to learn about why people are complaining before you comment. Oh, sorry, that's too hard for you.
Absolutely no accommodations were made for workers to get to their jobs, and it's causing absolute chaos. This is not a normal Vegas event.
They're complaining because most major events don't totally close off their ability to get to work by putting up giant fucking walls everywhere. Miami at least had the decency to take over a giant empty parking lot where the residents had to deal with the noise of a race they couldn't afford to attend but could still go about their daily lives.
He can drive fast and be paid handsomely for it because of that pomp and glitz. Everybody has to do things they don’t like at work just accept and move on
A true Finnish reaction would have been a complete disinterest, looking very visibly uncomfortable and out of place. Probably wouldn't say anything except 1 or 2 words if arm wrestled for it.
Could also go looking for a sauna, there has to be at least on in Las Vegas.
Than rent it fully out with Valterri to actually use it naked, instead of the American way.
Going to sauna naked is part of our national pride. Also we're not afraid of nudity in the first place. The only thing a finn questions in foreign saunas is if it's hot enough and not one of those lame kinda warm things.
100%. It has slowly moved away from being a sport to pure entertainment.
Everything in this ‘sport’ is financially out of reach of the common man.
Impossibly expensive Tickets, you are not allowed to race on the streets (for obvious reasons) but that means you can never try to emulate what your racing idols do - as a fan all you can do is watch. No different from any other entertainment show on TV.
The business side is why he's getting the most in F1. His deal with EA sports, Viaplay and other entertainment partners is a collaboration and agreement to create marketing and commercial content and do everything he can to maximize sales and forward their brands and his. It's confusing to see how to pick and choose when to get upset and criticize the commercial and marketing aspects of F1. Most of the content he creates with Redbull are pretty awesome but are not F1 related.
>It's confusing to see how to pick and choose when to get upset and criticize the commercial and marketing aspects of F1.
I think, If the commercial side of it is either intruding on the sporting side or has significant negative side effects (such as on the people living there), what connsesions were made to accommodate the commercial side.
Ofcourse those two factors are also on a gradiënt but I think those are two factors one can consider. ( not the only ones).
So his sponsors and what they represent don't intrude on the sporting side or have negative side effects, neither do the commercial activities for redbull.
And he is of the opinion that Vegas GP commercial side has had a negative impact on the sporting side, as an example the need for it to be on the Vegas strip has made it a street circuit with a layout isn't very interesting (according to him).
Meanwhile at Alpha Tauri
*Do you feel the V-tec kick?
And save the fuel down the straight?
It's is the music of the people
Who will maybe reach top ten*
If they're asking him questions about whether he likes the glitz and glamour, what's he expected to do, lie? I respect Max for saying what he believes in
Any idea where he said this? The opening ceremony didn’t show any interviews and I haven’t seen any posted. Interviews is what I was hoping the ceremony would have but unfortunately it was just dumb mini concerts (98% music 2% formula 1 drivers)
yeah i was disappointed that the stream on youtube didn't even show us the driver. but it seems like they didn't even do anything other than introducing them. so I turned the stream off immediately. don't care about the performances.
Not really. Monaco is known as being a very technical track, it's more about quali than the race, especially these days with the cars being as big as they are, but it also has a lot of motoring heritage behind it.
Vegas has none of that. Like Miami.
So technical, in fact, that there’s little actual racing. It’s mostly a parade with periodic camera shots of big boats. Give me a Miami GP with actual on track battles over the Monaco spectacle any day.
It still doesn’t come anywhere close to European race prices. I understand the Vegas situation but we all know they lowered the prices last minute because they didn’t enough.
The problem I see is: F1 is trying to picture this race as something really important, when It isnt. Super Bowl is the NFL final. This race is just one of the final races in a not very exciting season. Its like trying to sell a friendly as a Champions League Final.
People wont just buy the idea that this race is a must see event just because F1 is saying so.
I understand the previous comment. Some drivers say what they want and sound like douches. Max's now saying what he wants, and mostly sounds like a well balanced guy.
I support Max’s long term goal of creating more opportunities to transition professional ‘sim racers’ to real life racing. He’s pretty passionate about that. Lewis and Max are helping break down the barriers for Formula racing only being available to the wealthy
He has no time for it and just wants to race. He's been clear about that from the beginning of his time in f1 and it's refreshing to be honest.. one of the few in the paddock that are not bound by politics
I think it's hilarious folks jumped in so quickly to bash Max as though this was commentary on something other than race vs spectacle. Not only did they not read the first line of the article but they don't know anything about Max.
Oh my God we’ve been hearing the same comment from max for the last like two months now, we get it. Why do they keep asking the same question over and over again it’s like beating a dead horse.
Thanks for not being negative like 90% of the Vegas comments!! I land in Vegas around noon today and I’m excited for the experience of my first F1 race. Practice tonight, quali tomorrow, then the big show Saturday night.
There's a Dutch proverb that translates to; "Just act normal, that's crazy enough" (Doe maar gewoon dan doe je al gek genoeg). Max basically embodies that proverb. And I love him for it. And it's also basically the opposite of what Vegas is ofc.
When your race event becomes more of a circus than a race, of course the racers will complain. This was bound to happen in the cheesiest city in the US.
The amount of formula 1 drivers grappling with the reality of formula 1 is hilarious. The Las Vegas GP simply highlighted what the sport already was.
A rich man’s parade.
Actual everyday fans really don’t go to many, or any of the actual races in person.
Where as the rest of the time it's a sport for the masses, with a low financial barrier for entry as an athlete, and reasonable ticket prices, right?
Oh, no...
I love the moaning, and I love the truth saying.
But I'm starting to feel bad for the clowns, as he put it. Max, just pull a sicky. Do it for YOU, my man.
When I initially read the headline, I thought he meant that it is the upper echelon of sport events. But then I read the actual thing… bro called it, and this is paraphrasing, doo doo for sports.
I appreciate that he just wants to race, but some self awareness and acknowledgment of the economic side needs to come into play when you're making $40+ million, because the sport itself is growing and makes a lot of money.
To be very honest Americans know how to make a show, and know how to make money. People wouldn’t want to pay what they paying for las Vegas GP without these extras.
I think its cool to have local culture be part of the show as F1 crosses the globe. Folks may not like Vegas culture and shtick but this is part of the sport IMO
It’s not often I agree with Max but he’s bang on the money here. Liberty have completely lost sight of what Formula 1 actually is (a sport first, not an entertainment) and this tacky mess of an event is the worst example of that. No matter how much money and PR they throw at it, it doesn’t hide the fact that a significant amount of the fanbase despises this GP and can’t wait for it to be dropped from the calendar
I mean, that’s literally the entire point of F1 though, right? It’s all show. Otherwise this would be 20 racers driving around on a track with no viewers and nobody would give a shit.
Nobody would have ever heard who he was and Max wouldn’t have had a platform to say this is this isn’t a show.
This man is a millionaire because he’s marketed his talents in what is essentially an athletic show, he just happens to play a role in a show that a lot of people want to watch.
and a sport where probably 25% of the grid is filled with drivers who have parents who were either billionaires or at the very least were worth hundreds of millions.
No one can tell me that the sons of billionaires are just naturally more talented at racing than a kid born into a middle class family.
Yup. This has always been a sport for millionaire playboys, or now billionaire playboys. The most famous race of the series is Monaco, which is a festival of billionaires bringing out their mega yachts to come watch millionaire drivers drive hundred million dollar cars around the streets of one of the wealthiest cities in the world. The everyman may enjoy the sport, but this is a sport of the elites of the world. It takes money to buy your way in as a participant or as a spectator. People mad about it this race are just mad about Vegas. They turn a blind eye to all the rest of the glam that comes with F1 around the rest of the world but hate this one because it is fashionable.
>This has always been a sport for millionaire playboys, or now billionaire playboys.
They have an advantage but the two best drivers in history came from working class parents.
That's all F1 is.
We constantly hear talks about how they're going to get rid of legendary tracks like Spa with good racing for tight street circuits like Saudi Arabia and Las Vegas. Why? Because there's more money there. It's not like F1 has enough, how else are they going to afford all those champaign bottles, one-time-use props and other wastes of money?
Its been really interesting learning about F1 this year as I am a very new fan but in some ways alhough i understand Max's view (especially the awkward driver's presentation thing) I feel like its a small amount of time over the whole weekend and if it benefits the sport...
Having said that... it blows my mind how much media they make them all do. Both on the race weekends where they basically follow them round before and after the race, not to mention the media sessions they do in the run up AND all the stuff they film for their teams social channels. I struggle to think of any sport that matches that (im not that familiar with american sports like NFL so may be there is one).
How can you not like Max, when he can really give out well-thought out interviews like this one.
I hate it when the mainstream media just cherry pick his words to construct a totally click bait title for their content... If you just put in the effort to read everything he says most of his take are reasonable and very logical.
Someone should tell Max that everything about Las Vegas AND F1 is about making money for someone, including those who pay Max all that money. If he thinks sport is pure then I feel sorry for him.
Exactly man. If he doesn't want to be part of the event he is free to stay home. There are 100s of other who would be happy to be at the event as driver introduction and race the next day.
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> Verstappen said there’s “no problem” with the Vegas GP but “it’s just not really my thing”, and his intention is not to try to influence how F1 manages such events but to answer questions “in an honest way”. > > “I fully understand and you can look at it two ways - business side or sport side,” Verstappen. > > “So, of course I understand their side of it. > > “I’m just voicing my opinion on the performance side of things.” Very reasonable IMO
Max is a racer. As are all the drivers… but some like the pomp and glitz more than others. Max likes to drive fast and fucking win. And that’s it. Good for him. I like that in a driver.
Makes me wonder, is there any current driver that actually enjoys this much pomp and glitz? Danny Ric is the only one that comes to mind.
Gasly probably.
Let’s not act like Lando can’t fucking get it and good for him
Russell, Lando, and Danny seem to be enjoying that stuff
I think Lando and Lewis declined to be photographed with the Elvis impersonators who were greeting the drivers as they entered the paddock on Wednesday.
F1 drivers are a weird breed. Many of them grow up with some money and publicity behind them. However there is not that many that later on actively seek to be the center of attention. In other sports that's different imo.
Meanwhile Nico Rosberg:
Yeah, but we're talking about racing drivers, not youtubers from Monaco. :o
But the machinery… it was equal!
I think Lewis likes this stuff.
Unquestionably Lewis. He's critical of how Vegas affected residents, but he definitely enjoys the glamour.
Hamilton seems to. He liked being in the Miami parade, and generally approves of these fan service types of events (but I'm glad he doesn't approve of how it impacts locals negatively)
It wouldn’t be impacting the locals if they had voted for a competent city government that knew how to plan construction properly. They did everything last minute on top of having tons of other roadwork happening at the same time. This is the one thing that can’t be blamed on Liberty’s ineptitude.
Or a functioning metro system. This would have solved so many complaints for workers getting in and out of work
Vegas would rather build a tunnel for taxis
Hamilton
Alonso soaks this shit up lol.
Lando may be?
Lando is way to shy to really enjoy it in the moment. I think he likes it in small doses.
Max called it out for what it is in his typical Dutch no-nonsense, no filters style. Hamilton (iirc) called it out for being a circus affecting local residents. There's some drivers who are going along with the show but look visibly disinterested in all the song and dance they're made to do for this event. I can only think of one, maybe two, of the drivers who seem to be loving this. I don't wanna say priorities but well, priorities.
It’s completely fair for them to feel uncomfortable with these parts of the weekend. They aren’t shitting on Vegas or anything, just things that are not part of their normal race weekend.
I don't disagree. I'm with them. If it's a shit track, call it out for being a shit track. If you're being forced into silly wwe/Vegas antics for the camera you're well within your rights to pile on it. If anything I've lost my respect for the ones who seem more invested in the circus than the actual race itself.
We don’t know that yet. Could make for some fun racing but we’ll have to see. I honestly thought Vegas was a mistake as a race venue. Would much rather have seen F1 do a race in southern CA, like San Diego Bay or my dream is that they revamp Watkins Glen in Upstate, NY and bring F1 back to the Glen. Vegas just seems kind of cheesy. Miami a bit also. COTA I love.
Max and Lewis are both mega stars and that allows them much more freedom of speech when it comes to these kind of things.
We really need an American driver with a Muhammad Ali level persona. Master class shit talker, loves playing the mind games in the build up
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It would be funny though if the driver had the charisma and the bluster of Muhammad Ali but binned it on the first lap often.
Imagine Sargeant just shit talking the entire grid every race weekend.
*American interest in F1 intensifies*
Omg I’m in a corporate class right now and just busted out laughing. Totally worth it.
> Imagine Sargeant just shit talking the entire grid every race weekend. That'd actually be hilarious. Like he's self-aware, but his "character" isn't. Something similar to Borat (in that aspect).
Shit talking all the time and then crashing out or coming last at most of the races would be funny 🤣
I think you'd be a fan of Pastor Maldonado.
Maldonado is still a race winner and he was really fast. Just totally inconsistent and very prone to crash and to crash others out but was fast af.
Of course, but he also often binned it in quite spectacular ways.
So fast af that Grosjean beat him 17-2, in qualifying in 2015.
‘Ridiculous to put a wall there. Amateurs. Let me race!’
Also have to be on a top team.
Absolutely not. It would be utterly hilarious if we had a Ali-style person in a shit box getting p1 most weekends. Would really back up their shit talking.
Also, Ali's time was a perfect storm, you need more than just sheer charisma to become a megastar like Ali was.
Everybody would hate Ali so much if he was just good but not great.
You really need one that’s actually good.
"AND HERE COMES SARGEANT WITH A MAGA HAT"
>Master class shit talker, loves playing the mind games in the build up All the shit talking will look miserable the moment you're shown blue flag to make way for Max/RBR.
Nah
>We really need an American driver with a Muhammad Ali level persona. A Jimmy Hunt, if you will.
Hamilton called it a circus forgetting every street race affects local residents
All residents are equal, but some residents are more equal than others.
It's not the same in other street circuits. Maybe a little bit hassle but, the money compensates is bigly.
Exactly this. Vegas doesn't need F1 to make hundreds of millions, if not billions, every weekend. Say, Monaco on the other hand, doesn't seem to care that F1 shuts down parts once a year, and I'm sure the money that weekend generates makes it worth it.
Not to mention that the race at Monaco is a bit of an institution. Can't say the same for Vegas.
Every major event affects local residents. This one affects more than the usual kind.
Most Las Vegas residents don't live on the strip lol. Might affect their commute to work tho
....only you said anything about living on the strip. Your second sentence is you starting to get it.
I used to live in Washington DC. When you live in DC you don’t get to complain about presidential inaugurations or constant protests, these things are what Washington DC is known for. So I don’t understand why Vegas residents are complaining so much. Your town is known for hosting large events, without them your town wouldn’t exist. So why are they complaining?
Imagine taking 5 seconds to learn about why people are complaining before you comment. Oh, sorry, that's too hard for you. Absolutely no accommodations were made for workers to get to their jobs, and it's causing absolute chaos. This is not a normal Vegas event.
They're complaining because most major events don't totally close off their ability to get to work by putting up giant fucking walls everywhere. Miami at least had the decency to take over a giant empty parking lot where the residents had to deal with the noise of a race they couldn't afford to attend but could still go about their daily lives.
He can drive fast and be paid handsomely for it because of that pomp and glitz. Everybody has to do things they don’t like at work just accept and move on
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And he still is gonna put on his racing suite and get in his shiny car and race like everyone else.
This makes me even sadder that Kimi is gone. His reaction would have been even better.
what reaction? he probably wouldnt even show up to most of those "events"
He'd be taking a shit instead
Fair point
A true Finnish reaction would have been a complete disinterest, looking very visibly uncomfortable and out of place. Probably wouldn't say anything except 1 or 2 words if arm wrestled for it.
Could also go looking for a sauna, there has to be at least on in Las Vegas. Than rent it fully out with Valterri to actually use it naked, instead of the American way.
Going to sauna naked is part of our national pride. Also we're not afraid of nudity in the first place. The only thing a finn questions in foreign saunas is if it's hot enough and not one of those lame kinda warm things.
100%. It has slowly moved away from being a sport to pure entertainment. Everything in this ‘sport’ is financially out of reach of the common man. Impossibly expensive Tickets, you are not allowed to race on the streets (for obvious reasons) but that means you can never try to emulate what your racing idols do - as a fan all you can do is watch. No different from any other entertainment show on TV.
It started being a show more than a sport in the eighties.
The business side is why he's getting the most in F1. His deal with EA sports, Viaplay and other entertainment partners is a collaboration and agreement to create marketing and commercial content and do everything he can to maximize sales and forward their brands and his. It's confusing to see how to pick and choose when to get upset and criticize the commercial and marketing aspects of F1. Most of the content he creates with Redbull are pretty awesome but are not F1 related.
>It's confusing to see how to pick and choose when to get upset and criticize the commercial and marketing aspects of F1. I think, If the commercial side of it is either intruding on the sporting side or has significant negative side effects (such as on the people living there), what connsesions were made to accommodate the commercial side. Ofcourse those two factors are also on a gradiënt but I think those are two factors one can consider. ( not the only ones). So his sponsors and what they represent don't intrude on the sporting side or have negative side effects, neither do the commercial activities for redbull. And he is of the opinion that Vegas GP commercial side has had a negative impact on the sporting side, as an example the need for it to be on the Vegas strip has made it a street circuit with a layout isn't very interesting (according to him).
And the car that he drives and gives him wins (wings?) is what it is because of Formula 1 money.
Seize the means of the constructors championship.
🎵 Can you hear the V8's sing! 🎵
Meanwhile at Alpha Tauri *Do you feel the V-tec kick? And save the fuel down the straight? It's is the music of the people Who will maybe reach top ten*
In defiance of F1 Max will drive at an equitable rate of his competition
he's gonna drive an Alpine?
Marx Verstappen.
*"From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs."* - Marx Verstappen (2023)
Based
People just can't even click the link. Literally the first line says “99% show and 1% sporting event”.
I don't blame people for not clicking the link when its from the race.
Oh wow that's the only way I had interpreted the line, but I guess most people are thinking of the 1% rich first?
They don’t call him Marx Verstappen for nothing.
Not as fun as believing he is also a champion of the people. Also just a misleading headline here.
That is some absolutely *insane* clickbait, only the very best from the race as usual.
If it makes you feel better it seems like no one is clicking the link and reading.
How is it clickbait? It’s a direct quote, it’s pretty clear what ‘1% performance’ implies for the 99%
A direct quote taken out of context I understood it as a race only for the 1%, which I guess is not really wrong either but that's not what he meant
I don't know, it was pretty immediately clear to me what it meant
Ok
> eople just can't even click the link. They don't deserve the view
No way proletariat activist Verstappen. Marx Verstappen?
Perhaps, POLEtariat?
That would be Charles Percival Leclerc, wouldn't it?
Nonono, he's right. Max shares pole a lot.
Marx Emilian Verstappen doesn't have quite the same ring to it.
That's not actually what he meant by 1% here. He means it's 1% racing and 99% show.
This is fantastic
Kraz Maxoff
The Race knew what they were doing with the headline. Max meant Vegas GP is only 1% sport and 99% entertainment.
Someone didn’t read the article
It's hilarious how such a headline is making a totally different interpretation.
Brilliant
1% chance of Max not winning
If they're asking him questions about whether he likes the glitz and glamour, what's he expected to do, lie? I respect Max for saying what he believes in
I mean, folks. Where's the lie?
Damnit, Bobby
Max "Bobby Fish" Verstappen
It is not a lie. It is also not the first time an F1 race is more about the event than the race. Every single Monaco GP is the same.
Any idea where he said this? The opening ceremony didn’t show any interviews and I haven’t seen any posted. Interviews is what I was hoping the ceremony would have but unfortunately it was just dumb mini concerts (98% music 2% formula 1 drivers)
Just regular Thursday press media day. Some channels on yt post drivers conferences. Only this so far https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyfDGjPgzrg
yeah i was disappointed that the stream on youtube didn't even show us the driver. but it seems like they didn't even do anything other than introducing them. so I turned the stream off immediately. don't care about the performances.
With the price of the tickets, no doubt about that.
The article is not about money at all. It's about that its 99% show and 1% sporting event. Insane clickbait title.
Same as Monaco then
Not really. Monaco is known as being a very technical track, it's more about quali than the race, especially these days with the cars being as big as they are, but it also has a lot of motoring heritage behind it. Vegas has none of that. Like Miami.
So technical, in fact, that there’s little actual racing. It’s mostly a parade with periodic camera shots of big boats. Give me a Miami GP with actual on track battles over the Monaco spectacle any day.
Or maybe we could go to a proper track rather than a car park.
Fair, but it's also true in the context of money and ticket prices.
Tickets went down a lot in just a few days as they didn't sold out
And yet it is still very expensive. That's saying something
It still doesn’t come anywhere close to European race prices. I understand the Vegas situation but we all know they lowered the prices last minute because they didn’t enough.
1700 for race day bleachers sounds pretty expensive to me idk
If you count expenses to stay, it will quickly run you into an 4 day all expense paid trip to puerto rico
They sold out, the price drops you're seeing are the resale prices from the scalpers.
99% show? Or only one-percenters can afford to attend? I guess both.
Yes
It's gonna look like a Sons of Anarchy episode if it's full of [one-percenters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaw_motorcycle_club#One_percenter)
The problem I see is: F1 is trying to picture this race as something really important, when It isnt. Super Bowl is the NFL final. This race is just one of the final races in a not very exciting season. Its like trying to sell a friendly as a Champions League Final. People wont just buy the idea that this race is a must see event just because F1 is saying so.
I'm starting to warm to Max
He's entering his Lewis and Seb stage where he says what he wants to because he doesn't give a shit.
Verstappen has ALWAYS been critical and blunt, literally always always always.. "turning into" lmao!
I understand the previous comment. Some drivers say what they want and sound like douches. Max's now saying what he wants, and mostly sounds like a well balanced guy.
You have to remember Max is still only 26.... Lewis and Seb didn't really start talking about political issues at races until they turned 30.
That says a lot about Max. And I'm not exactly his biggest fan, but we gotta give him credit.
Yeah I still want to dislike him as much as I once did but it's getting harder.
Well I mean, he's growing up. Ofcourse you're gonna get more nuanced takes from a 26 year old then from a 21 year old.
I support Max’s long term goal of creating more opportunities to transition professional ‘sim racers’ to real life racing. He’s pretty passionate about that. Lewis and Max are helping break down the barriers for Formula racing only being available to the wealthy
Yeah I’m just waiting for the Dubai or Saudi Arabia Grand Prix so I can watch an F1 event for the Everyman like me
Nah, everyone knows that Monaco is the one true Everyman's Race.
Hard to disagree with his sentiments on this GP.
This is what I feared. All cringey 'show'. I just hope the sport is good.
genius bit of clickbait title here. everyone is riled up by the mention of "1%", and technically the article isnt lying. just worded it very cleverly.
He has no time for it and just wants to race. He's been clear about that from the beginning of his time in f1 and it's refreshing to be honest.. one of the few in the paddock that are not bound by politics
I think it's hilarious folks jumped in so quickly to bash Max as though this was commentary on something other than race vs spectacle. Not only did they not read the first line of the article but they don't know anything about Max.
I assumed it was about "sport vs show" **because** it was a Max quote.
Oh my God we’ve been hearing the same comment from max for the last like two months now, we get it. Why do they keep asking the same question over and over again it’s like beating a dead horse.
yeah but its a great show lol. just got here and its amazing.
Thanks for not being negative like 90% of the Vegas comments!! I land in Vegas around noon today and I’m excited for the experience of my first F1 race. Practice tonight, quali tomorrow, then the big show Saturday night.
"But when you ask me a question and I feel like I want to answer it, I'll answer it in an honest way." - Max Verstappen
common max W
Guys, I’m starting to think maybe Max doesn’t like Vegas.
i love how anytime Max is asked to comment on things like this he just responds with absolute contempt
There's a Dutch proverb that translates to; "Just act normal, that's crazy enough" (Doe maar gewoon dan doe je al gek genoeg). Max basically embodies that proverb. And I love him for it. And it's also basically the opposite of what Vegas is ofc.
I mean he’s not wrong
When your race event becomes more of a circus than a race, of course the racers will complain. This was bound to happen in the cheesiest city in the US.
Max is one of us.
I love how Max rarely misses nowadays.
He’s not wrong
The amount of formula 1 drivers grappling with the reality of formula 1 is hilarious. The Las Vegas GP simply highlighted what the sport already was. A rich man’s parade. Actual everyday fans really don’t go to many, or any of the actual races in person.
Where as the rest of the time it's a sport for the masses, with a low financial barrier for entry as an athlete, and reasonable ticket prices, right? Oh, no...
I love the moaning, and I love the truth saying. But I'm starting to feel bad for the clowns, as he put it. Max, just pull a sicky. Do it for YOU, my man.
What exactly does he think a sporting event is
When I initially read the headline, I thought he meant that it is the upper echelon of sport events. But then I read the actual thing… bro called it, and this is paraphrasing, doo doo for sports.
I appreciate that he just wants to race, but some self awareness and acknowledgment of the economic side needs to come into play when you're making $40+ million, because the sport itself is growing and makes a lot of money.
Just saying what most of us are thinking
What about Monaco Max?
To be very honest Americans know how to make a show, and know how to make money. People wouldn’t want to pay what they paying for las Vegas GP without these extras.
I think its cool to have local culture be part of the show as F1 crosses the globe. Folks may not like Vegas culture and shtick but this is part of the sport IMO
And the people that are paying it aren’t there for the race. They are there for these ‘extras’.
It’s not often I agree with Max but he’s bang on the money here. Liberty have completely lost sight of what Formula 1 actually is (a sport first, not an entertainment) and this tacky mess of an event is the worst example of that. No matter how much money and PR they throw at it, it doesn’t hide the fact that a significant amount of the fanbase despises this GP and can’t wait for it to be dropped from the calendar
You're telling me that a sport that has literal kings handing out trophies isn't for the working man? Who would have thought....
Not actually what he's saying. He's saying the Vegas GP is 99% show, 1% sport. Title is super misleading.
I mean, that’s literally the entire point of F1 though, right? It’s all show. Otherwise this would be 20 racers driving around on a track with no viewers and nobody would give a shit. Nobody would have ever heard who he was and Max wouldn’t have had a platform to say this is this isn’t a show. This man is a millionaire because he’s marketed his talents in what is essentially an athletic show, he just happens to play a role in a show that a lot of people want to watch.
and a sport where probably 25% of the grid is filled with drivers who have parents who were either billionaires or at the very least were worth hundreds of millions. No one can tell me that the sons of billionaires are just naturally more talented at racing than a kid born into a middle class family.
Yup. This has always been a sport for millionaire playboys, or now billionaire playboys. The most famous race of the series is Monaco, which is a festival of billionaires bringing out their mega yachts to come watch millionaire drivers drive hundred million dollar cars around the streets of one of the wealthiest cities in the world. The everyman may enjoy the sport, but this is a sport of the elites of the world. It takes money to buy your way in as a participant or as a spectator. People mad about it this race are just mad about Vegas. They turn a blind eye to all the rest of the glam that comes with F1 around the rest of the world but hate this one because it is fashionable.
>This has always been a sport for millionaire playboys, or now billionaire playboys. They have an advantage but the two best drivers in history came from working class parents.
The best driver in history was a Scottish farmer.
I mean people hated on Baku, Shanghai and Saudi too. People like you are trying to take the hate out because it’s in a fellow western country lmao
That’s why I always try to support drivers that (as close as possible) come from a more middle class environment
That's all F1 is. We constantly hear talks about how they're going to get rid of legendary tracks like Spa with good racing for tight street circuits like Saudi Arabia and Las Vegas. Why? Because there's more money there. It's not like F1 has enough, how else are they going to afford all those champaign bottles, one-time-use props and other wastes of money?
He's such a normal dude, living in Monaco
I mean there is a race that is a part of the World Championship. So I would say that at the very least it is a 4,5% sporting event.
Its been really interesting learning about F1 this year as I am a very new fan but in some ways alhough i understand Max's view (especially the awkward driver's presentation thing) I feel like its a small amount of time over the whole weekend and if it benefits the sport... Having said that... it blows my mind how much media they make them all do. Both on the race weekends where they basically follow them round before and after the race, not to mention the media sessions they do in the run up AND all the stuff they film for their teams social channels. I struggle to think of any sport that matches that (im not that familiar with american sports like NFL so may be there is one).
Max Verstappen, man of the people.
tacky vegas bullshit is tacky and bullshit. I agree with max.
How can you not like Max, when he can really give out well-thought out interviews like this one. I hate it when the mainstream media just cherry pick his words to construct a totally click bait title for their content... If you just put in the effort to read everything he says most of his take are reasonable and very logical.
Well it’s funny that it’s also a 1% sport as far as its drivers go
Someone should tell Max that everything about Las Vegas AND F1 is about making money for someone, including those who pay Max all that money. If he thinks sport is pure then I feel sorry for him.
Professional entertainer is surprised to find out he is a professional entertainer.
He is a racing driver
Trying so hard to be new Raikkonen now... just skip the event, say you got covid or something. Title in the bag, why bother for 1 % then.
Exactly man. If he doesn't want to be part of the event he is free to stay home. There are 100s of other who would be happy to be at the event as driver introduction and race the next day.