Max Verstappen simply replied: “I do not care,” when asked for his thoughts on Lewis Hamilton’s impending move to Ferrari.
And the Dutchman also made it clear he does not think of a move to the Scuderia as romantically as his former Formula 1 title rival does. A big part of the reason why Hamilton has chosen to walk away from Mercedes after 11 seasons is because of a childhood dream to race for Ferrari.
For Verstappen, though, such a decision could only be about performance. “I see it pragmatically,” he told Germany’s Sport Bild. “I want to win and I will want to drive where I have the best opportunity to do so.
“At the moment that is at Red Bull. But it is not like I secretly dream of the red racing suit and the thought is constantly buzzing around in my head because I am looking for a new challenge. Especially since there are no free cockpits anyway.
“But, of course, the Ferrari brand is incredible and it has achieved a lot in our sport. It makes sense that Lewis took the opportunity when it arose.” Other than that observation, though Verstappen had little offer in terms of his personal views on Hamilton’s decision.
Asked why he had said that he does not care, he replied: “Because I want to beat every driver from every car. It does not matter to me whether Lewis is in the red or silver car. But I can understand that there is a lot of interest in his move.
“It is a good thing for Formula 1. It will be interesting to see how he and Charles [Leclerc] work together within a team. [But] it did not really affect me. I had zero emotions.”
Verstappen is currently locked in a title battle with another British driver. He leads Lando Norris by 47 points heading into the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend but lost ground last time out in Mexico because of 20 seconds’ worth of time penalties, given to him because of his overly-aggressive defending against the McLaren racer on track.
The Dutchman has since faced a barrage of criticism over his style of racing but insists he will not change the way he drives and compared himself to Michael Schumacher, who also had a reputation for crossing a line on occasion. He said: “I do not care about compliments, I want to win and I always give everything to do that.
“I think that is what connects me with drivers like Michael. He also never left anything untried to have the greatest possible chance of success. Both in the car with his driving style and outside when it came to developing the car. There is no room for fear – but you also have to use your common sense.”
