Max Verstappen is making noise again – but this time, it’s not from the front of the grid. After another frustrating outing in Japan, whispers of a shock Formula 1 exit have erupted into full-blown debate, and now Martin Brundle has waded in with a characteristically sharp take.
The Sky F1 pundit – a man who has seen F1 legends come and go for decades – isn't buying into the Dutchman’s gloomy narrative.
While Verstappen argues that the sport’s new regulations focus too much on energy management and not enough on raw driver skill, Brundle suggests the broken record is starting to skip.
‘Either go or stop talking about it’
“Max is very unfiltered, always has been and he’s talked a lot for a long time about not being in this for the long haul, ‘I’m not going to be hanging around here in my forties’, or whatever,” Brundle remarked on The F1 Show.
“Max would say it’s getting a bit boring now. I think it’s getting a bit boring with what he’s saying. Either go or stop talking about it, because it is what it is. You’ve got to make the most of it.”
Despite the tough love, Brundle isn't blind to what the sport would lose if the Dutchman actually walked.
“I would hugely miss his talent, his generational speed and car control is something that very few people in the history of motorsport have had. It’s quite extraordinary,” he admitted.
However, the former Grand Prix driver was also quick to point out the cold reality of the business.
“Nobody’s indispensable in this business, I’ve seen a number of amazing people come through this sport and are no longer with us, or have worked on to something else, and the sport carries on. Murray Walker would be one of them,” Brundle said.
The Schumacher way vs. the Max way
The speculation regarding an exit is more than just paddock gossip; Brundle suspects the paperwork is already in place.
“I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever, that given they were building their own power train for the first time, that his management would have put in an exit clause for the end of this year to see how it goes,” he noted.
But with Mercedes claiming “there’s no place at this particular inn” at the moment, Verstappen's options outside of Red Bull look slim.
If Max does leave, Brundle warns that the vacuum would be filled in a heartbeat.
“This goes for any of us. The minute we stop, people will be talking about whoever is doing the job next”, he said.
“There are any number of Antonellis, Bearmans, Lindblads there who would do the job incredibly well for one percent of the money. So the sport will just move on if Max decides to go but he’s sort of doing quite a bit of damage meanwhile.
“But I think we all appreciate that’s how Max rock and rolls.”
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Comparing Max’s public outbursts to the political maneuvering of past greats, Brundle suggested a different approach.
“Do I think he’d just walk away from F1? No I don’t, providing he can get a car that pleases him,” he added. “His points are brutally made, but actually well made, that this is just wrong at the moment.
“But what a [Michael] Schumacher would have done is close the door, thump the desk, metaphorically got hold of the right people by the throat, walked out and with a smile go ‘everything is fine.’
“Then if they don’t sort it out, which we’re looking forward to for Miami, then you start going on to the media. But that’s not how he [Max] does things.”
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Whether Verstappen finds his smile at the Nürburgring 24 Hours or on his sim racing rig, Brundle remains skeptical of a retreat from F1.
“I’d be surprised if he really walks away from it. It’s great to be at the Nürburgring, I’ve done that. He’ll find the 24-hour race quite challenging, quite sketchy, but he’s got his own team. He loves that, he loves his sim racing.”
Whether it’s the beginning of a genuine exit strategy or just another flash of frustration, one thing is clear: when Verstappen talks, the entire paddock listens – even if, as Brundle suggests, it’s all starting to sound a little too familiar.
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