Max Verstappen felt like “a clown” during the drivers’ show in Las Vegas
The Dutch triple world champion is not a fan of racing a Grand Prix in the city of Nevada. He made it clear during the pre-race ceremony.
For several days, Max Verstappen has been relentlessly criticizing the arrival of Formula 1 in Las Vegas, for the first time since 1982. The triple world champion visited the track on Thursday, before this race weekend, for a drivers’ presentation show. But on his platform alongside his teammate Sergio Perez, the Dutchman did not seem happy to be present in the city of Nevada. He felt like a clown during this ceremony.
After this presentation, Max Verstappen spoke to various media outlets about his lack of enthusiasm for this night race in the “gambling capital”. « “To be honest, I don’t have many emotions, I just want to focus on my performance for this weekend. I don’t like all the things that come with it, I know they’re part of it, but they’re not in my interests,” explains the Dutchman.
« An urban circuit is not that exciting »
This new layout, measuring 6,120 kilometers long, features 17 turns and two long straight lines. At first glance, it resembles a speed circuit, like Monza. However, the characteristics of the Las Vegas circuit do not appeal to the Dutchman. « To be honest, there aren’t many turns. Driving an F1 car is much more fun with plenty of high-speed corners, but here, there aren’t many. It will also depend somewhat on its grip, » he explains.
« He doesn’t seem to have a lot of grip, but we’ll go with the flow. When you have little grip, it doesn’t help. The scenery will be gorgeous while crossing the Strip, but the track itself isn’t the most exciting. I think for me, an urban circuit isn’t that thrilling, especially with these new cars, they’re simply too heavy », Max Verstappen continues.
It’s not for me to decide, but I’m not going to pretend. I just expressed my opinion on positive and negative things, and that’s just how I am. The track isn’t very interesting, and I just want to do the best I can. There’s no problem, but it’s not really my thing. I grew up just looking at the performance aspect of things. I enjoy being in Vegas, but not so much for the race, concludes the Red Bull driver.
