F1’s Max Verstappen on Lewis Hamilton, Monaco, and Breaking Records – Robb Report

Max Verstappen, the current Formula 1 World Drivers’ Champion, is 25 years old now. The headstrong boy who, at 17 years and 166 days, became the youngest driver to compete in a Formula 1 weekend has done a lot of growing up in the years since. And he has successfully emerged from not only the shadow of his racing-driver father Jos, but that of his own promise to win two consecutive World Championships.

This past weekend in Monaco, the Red Bull Racing pilot dominated the field to notch his 39th win, prompting the sport’s observers to wonder, again, just how far Verstappen can go. Lewis Hamilton must be wondering, too, no? “No, I don’t think he needs to look over his shoulder,” says Verstappen, speaking exclusively to Robb Report. “He has achieved so much in the sport.”

But even with the one-race-at-a-time mentality cultivated by sports psychologists, he must surely be looking ahead. He’s still young. And records are made to be broken, right? “It doesn’t matter,” he insists, sounding phlegmatic rather than petulant. “I’ve never been interested in breaking records, because these things only happen if you are lucky enough to be in a good car for a long time. Not everyone has that luxury. Luckily, I’ve been in a good car for two years, to win championships, but it might stop next year. You don’t know. So I’m just enjoying the moment. If, after this year, it’s not happening again, that’s what it is.”

Sitting on the observation deck of a huge yacht in Monaco’s crammed harbor, where he’s the guest of Oracle Red Bull Racing’s sponsor TAG Heuer (Verstappen is sporting a skeletonized TAG Heuer Monaco engraved with two stars to indicate his championship wins), the champion says he might not be around long enough to break Hamilton’s records anyway. After all, Hamilton’s accomplishments in Formula 1 include 103 race wins (more than any other driver in the history of the series), the same number of pole positions, and seven World Championships. As for the latter, Hamilton is equaled only by Michael Schumacher.

Thanks to improvements in diet, fitness, mental health awareness and, in the case of Formula 1, safety, elite drivers are experiencing much longer careers. Like 38-year-old Hamilton or 41-year-old Fernando Alonso, Verstappen could easily keep competing into his late 30s or longer. “I could if I wanted to, but I don’t think I want to stay in the sport for that long,” says Verstappen. “I want to do other things.”

With Monaco done, the Formula 1 circus moves on. It’s a 23-race season—reduced to 22 after Emilia Romagna was cancelled due to flooding—and there are seven street circuits on the calendar, which some suggest is too many. Modern Formula 1 cars are too big to pass on narrow circuits, and are designed for cornering at high speeds.

“I understand a few of them,” Verstappen says of the street circuits. “But it doesn’t need to be more than that, because an F1 car really comes alive for me, personally, at normal tracks and in the fast corners. The cars we’re driving nowadays are not made to drive around here, but because it’s Monaco, with the history, we drive here and people love it.”

The penultimate race of the season will be on the streets of Las Vegas in November, the first time Formula 1 has landed in Nevada since the Caesars Palace Grand Prix of 1982. Is Verstappen looking forward to racing along the famous strip? “Yes and no,” he says. “I know that it’s going to be really crazy and hectic, probably even more than here. But we know that it’s all about the spectacle there; it’s not so much about the quality of the race.”

Where would he rather race? “For me, it’s mainly all the real tracks: Spa, Suzuka, Austin. Real cool tracks to drive. To go out there in qualifying, push the car to the limit in the high-speed corners, it’s the best feeling.” The Dutchman adds that he’d like to see South Africa return to the season’s calendar in order for Formula 1 “to be on every continent”. (Well, save for Antarctica.)

The Red Bull team has won all six races so far this season; four for Verstappen and two for his teammate Sergio Perez. From every angle, and given Verstappen’s imperious victory by a 27-second margin in Monaco, the championship looks like it’s his and Red Bull’s to lose. “To be honest, I don’t really think about it this way,” he says. “I just want to win another one, that’s what I’m interested about. And I know, of course, a lot of it depends on your car. If you have a good car, you can win again. And we have.”