Jos Verstappen sees his son Max slowly losing motivation for Formula 1

Jos Verstappen fully agrees with his son Max when it comes to judging the new generation of F1 cars. Verstappen Sr also criticizes battery management, which means a driver's skill is no longer the most important factor.

"As a driver, you should be rewarded for your bravery and your skills. But if you now go through a corner as fast as possible, over the course of a lap you end up being slower. That takes away the whole racing feeling," Verstappen Sr tells De Telegraaf.

The former F1 driver is also extremely annoyed by analysts who claim Verstappen only complains about the new regulations because Red Bull isn’t competitive enough. "I get the impression some people just say things to stay in the spotlight. Max’s feeling in the car has nothing to do with performance."

In any case, Jos Verstappen emphasizes that the four-time champion is simply answering questions honestly, not that he himself keeps bringing up the topic. "They should embrace how direct Max is. Or do they only want yes-men in this sport? Or drivers who say everything is great but don’t mean a word of it?”

Jos Verstappen sees how hard Red Bull Racing is working to improve the RB22. At the same time, he also observes a process in Max. "Racing in these cars doesn’t challenge him. Honestly, I’m afraid that Max will lose his motivation.

"He used to think racing a Formula 1 car was the most beautiful thing there was. But now I have a rather bleak outlook. I wish I could say it wasn’t so, but with an eye on his future I do see this becoming a problem," Verstappen Sr adds.

Max Verstappen still has a contract with Red Bull Racing through the end of 2028. He has always said that continuing beyond that depends on how much enjoyment there still is.