Max Verstappen earned admiring responses from motorsport fans with the first thing he asked after entering the press conference room following the Canadian Grand Prix. The Dutchman finished Sunday’s Montreal race third, his first podium of the year, and ended up being the first of the top-three finishers to make his way to the FIA press conference room.
While he was waiting for Lewis Hamilton, who finished second, and race-winner Kimi Antonelli to arrive, Verstappen used the opportunity to enquire about the other big motorsport event of the day happening around 800 miles south-west of Montreal. He swiftly asked gathered reporters who had won the Indy 500, IndyCar’s flagship event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Responding to that moment on social media, fans pointed out how it showed motorsport is always at the forefront of Verstappen’s mind. “Racing never sleeps with the guy,” one wrote. Another said: “Motorsport is always in Max’s blood and DNA.” And a third observed: “He’s such a pure racer, we cannot lose him, he’s irreplaceable.”
Several others took the opportunity to suggest Verstappen should have a crack at the brutal oval race. But those hoping that the four-time F1 champion pitches up at the Brickyard one day to race in the Month of May should prepare to be disappointed as he has made it clear in the past that he has no desire to chase the ‘Triple Crown’ of victories in the Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500 and 24 Hours of Le Mans.
He said in 2023: “That I won’t achieve, no. I mean, I like watching IndyCar, I think there are a lot of great drivers in there, also people I raced against, you know, so I have a good connection with them and I like seeing them do well. But me driving the Indy 500, absolutely not. I might go there and watch, but not race.”
A year earlier, he had pointed to the extra risk posed by racing at over 200mph with solid walls on the outside of the banked corners. He explained: “It’s insane, these drivers… I have a lot of respect for what they achieve there, but for me, especially being in F1 for such a long time already, I don’t need to risk my life there and potentially injure myself, your legs, whatever. It’s just not worth it.”
Sunday saw Verstappen secure his best result of the season which he admitted was “a little bit of a surprise”, given how he had struggled to find grip in his Red Bull for much of the weekend. “The two McLaren cars made a mess of the strategy starting on the inters, so that helps, and then of course, George’s car gave up, so that also helps to be on the podium,” he explained.
“But for us, it’s still a great result. We’re battling with the Ferrari, not too far off the Mercedes, it’s just on the second stint on the medium we were just lacking a bit of grip. It was just not really working for us so that’s something that we need to understand but nevertheless, on the podium is positive.”