{"id":293889,"date":"2023-11-02T13:25:05","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T13:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=293889"},"modified":"2023-11-02T13:25:05","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T13:25:05","slug":"max-verstappen-doubles-down-after-red-bull-stars-retirement-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/racing\/f1\/max-verstappen-doubles-down-after-red-bull-stars-retirement-threat\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen doubles down after Red Bull star’s retirement threat"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Max Verstappen has doubled down on his criticism of Formula One\u2019s sprint races, months after suggesting he will retire if the events continue to be added to the calendar. The Red Bull star will compete in another sprint race at the Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend.<\/p>\n

Verstappen is a vocal critic of sprint races and has condemned the sport\u2019s authorities for doubling their total to six for 2023 – up from three when they were introduced in 2021. He believes sprint races are to be blamed for disqualifications handed to Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc at the United States Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

Hamilton and Leclerc were disqualified from the United States Grand Prix after they failed post-race checks. Planks on their respective Mercedes and Ferrari cars had worn beyond the 1mm allowance.<\/p>\n

Verstappen, who secured the Drivers\u2019 Championship in the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race, insists those incidents would not happen if teams had more time to prepare with practice sessions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should just get rid of the sprint weekend and then everyone can just set up their cars normally. It wouldn’t have happened that we would have had a normal race weekend,\u201d the world champion-elect said.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong> Max Verstappen doubles down after retirement threat as Perez offered lifeline[UPDATES] <\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cThese things only happen when you have a sprint weekend where everything is so rushed into your in-between FP1 and qualifying.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom our side, I think we went a bit too conservative, but that’s still better than the other way.\u201d<\/p>\n

It comes after Verstappen threatened to quit the sport over revamped sprint race rules earlier this season. The three-time world champion said he \u201cwon\u2019t be around for too long\u201d if sprint races continue to be added to the calendar.<\/p>\n

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