Max Verstappen‘s recent retirement threats have got the whole of the Formula 1 world talking.
At last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, Verstappen cut a more fed up figure than ever this year, telling the BBC that pushing himself to give 100 per cent whilst racing machinery he strongly dislikes is ‘not very healthy’.
After the first three races of the year, the 28-year-old has labelled his new RB22 ‘undriveable’, summarising his experience of being at the wheel of the new car as ’emotionally draining’, with reigning champion Lando Norris even suggesting he should retire if the new regulations are not to his liking.
From pundits to fans and even family members, suggestions that the four-time champion should throw in the towel have not gone down well, with none other than Sylvia Tamsma, the mother of Verstappen’s partner, Kelly Piquet, biting back over the topic.
“I mean if he’s saying this in order to get some leverage on the way things are at the moment, I don’t think that will work, I think that approach where people will just say, ‘well Max, go away and come back when you’ve had a think about it’.
“You can’t always get what you want but the point is there are a lot of people talking about these regulations, from a driving point of view, as being not what they signed up for, not what people thought Formula 1 should be about.
Hill then weighed in on the controversial energy management required to handle the new cars, saying: “Of course I don’t drive the cars anymore, but I can see from the onboard footage that it’s a little bit weird when they’re slowing down at the end of a long straight going into a braking point.
“That seems to be something we’re going to have have to get used to or we’ll never get used to, maybe that will be worked out through a regulation change or something first.”
The former Sky Sports pundit then suggested Verstappen should retire if he isn’t onboard with the new sport’s new rules, adding: “He doesn’t have to do this. He’s earned an awful lot of money. He’s a new dad as well, he’s been doing it for a long time and I think maybe he needs a break.”
It was this final comment that appeared to rile up Tamsma, with Piquet’s mother taking to the comments of the BBC’s Instagram post featuring Hill to make her dislike of the Brit’s retirement suggestion blatantly clear.
The mother of Verstappen’s partner and the ex-wife of three-time champion Nelson Piquet wrote underneath the BBC post: “O Damon , people need a break from your ‘opinion’. Seems you’re too old to understand that not only Max but all drivers are complaining. Singeling (sic) out Max is quite nasty don’t you think?”
How long have Max Verstappen and Kelly Piquet been together?
Max Verstappen and Kelly Piquet have been together since 2020, with their relationship becoming official in January 2021.
The couple often publicly share insights into their life together via their own Instagram accounts, with Piquet also frequently attending a grand prix weekend in support of her F1 champion partner.
Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.
Ex-F1 driver and fan-favourite Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle has revealed the origin story of how his now famous grid walks began.
Before Brundle graced our screens during grands prix weekends, he was busy taking part in them as a driver, with Tyrell, Williams, Brabham, Benetton and McLaren among the teams he raced for.
Between 1984 and 1996, the Englishman picked up nine podiums and now imparts his motorsport knowledge with on-screen punditry for Sky Sports F1.
Though the 66-year-old is loved for his authoritative and authentic delivery, he also brings wit to the British broadcaster, and occasionally a touch or chaos thanks to his grid walks.
Sky Sports acquired the rights to Formula 1 in 2012 but secured the privilege of being the sport’s exclusive live broadcaster ahead of the 2019 championship. Since then, one thing that has become a mainstay of Sky’s F1 weekend coverage is Brundle’s grid walks.
The ex-F1 racer has even admitted he doesn’t enjoy orchestrating his famous grid interviews these days, and who can blame him when he’s been involved in so many awkward celebrity interactions as a result.
During an interview with his Sky Sports colleague Natalie Pinkham, Brundle revealed that the grid walk segment first took place at the 1997 British Grand Prix, but he wasn’t working for Sky at the time and instead delivered his now famous segment to the ITV cameras at Silverstone.
His former team-mate and 11-time grand prix winner Rubens Barrichello was his first interviewee.
“He was my team-mate the year before. That’s why I probably felt he’d talk to me,” Brundle explained.
“That’s when drivers used to come up to me in the next year or two and go, ‘You haven’t spoken to me on the grid. Come and find me. Why are you not talking to me on the grid?’
“Now they just look at me like I’m a double glazing salesman or something, or an insurance salesman with his foot in the door.”
Asked if he could take credit for the grid walk format, Brundle revealed: “Wasn’t my idea. I was at ITV at the time, and they said to me, the producers, ‘We’ve got an idea. Why don’t you walk down the grid and say what you see?’ Like, ‘All right, I’ll give it a go.'”
Brundle went on to explain how he began his first grid walk by delivering his piece to camera from within the cockpit, offering a rare view to ITV’s audience in the days before public onboards of what an F1 driver sees when sitting down on the grid.
“That’s when cars used to drive to the grid,” Brundle continued. “They don’t now, they stop at the back and get pushed through because Niki Lauda used to come through, cut his engine and freewheel through, which was terrifying.
“It was dangerous. So now they all come through on trolleys, and I wanted to point out to people that you sit on the floor basically. I always say it’s like laying in the bath looking over the taps, is how it looks when you’re in a Formula 1 car.
“And then Keith, my cameraman back in those days, put the camera over my shoulder, and I think people liked that because we didn’t have many onboard cameras and all the sort of toys and tools we have today to see what the drivers are really doing, and data and what have you.”
Verstappen, who was not driving when Saturday’s tragedy occurred, had stunned the GT racing world on his first two appearances at the Nurburgring, securing pole position and the win at both the NLS9 round last year and the NLS2 round in March – although his No.3 Verstappen Racing team were disqualified from the latter event.
The Dutchman returned to the ‘Green Hell’, this time alongside Lucas Auer in the Mercedes-AMG GT3, taking part in the NLS4 round on Saturday.
Now, Verstappen goes again in a jam-packed Sunday schedule, which includes qualifying for the NLS5 race, Top Qualifying for the 24 hour race in May and the four-hour NLS5 race.
Here is how you can watch and what time Verstappen is in action at the Nurburgring.
NLS5 Schedule and times at the ADAC 24h Nurburgring Qualifiers
The race proper will begin, following a minute’s silence to remember Juha Miettinen, at 13:00 local time (CEST), 12:00 UK time (BST), 07:00 (ET), 06:00 (CT) and 04:00 (PT). The race will last four hours.
Before that we have two qualifying sessions, the first conventional session for NLS5 (07:15-08:45 UK) and then a Top Qualifying session (09:40-10:40 UK).
How to watch Max Verstappen live at the Nurburgring
You can watch all of Verstappen’s GT exploits at the Nurburgring right here on GPFans on Sunday April 19. We have live streams for Qualifying, Top Qualifying and the race proper:
Nurburgring weather forecast for NLS5
A much cooler morning is expected on Sunday, with temperatures starting out at six degrees Celsius and only rising to 10 by the end of both qualifying sessions, with a five per cent chance of rain forecast.
For lights out at 13:00, temperatures remain at 11 degrees Celsius throughout the entire race distance, with the chance of rain rising to 30 per cent by the early evening.
Reigning F1 world champion Lando Norris has described the new 2026 regulations as ‘frustrating’ after an outing at the Nurburgring this week.
Norris has been largely onside so far with the wholesale regulation changes in F1, while some of his rivals have been less than complimentary in the early stages of the 2026 season.
Max Verstappen is understood to be ‘seriously considering’ quitting the sport partly because of the new rules, which he has constantly berated and suggested that the new cars are ‘not fun’ to drive.
Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, has described the new cars as the ‘best racing’ that he has experienced in his long, illustrious F1 career.
“These cars are certainly very different to the cars from last year, and the differences are quite complex,” Norris told McLaren’s official website. “Some of which I enjoy, some of which I’ve found a bit more difficult so far.
“Last year we had loads of downforce, cars that really felt like they were on rails when we got them dialled in and what felt like never-ending speed, however when you lost grip, that was it, you were just losing time at best or heading for the gravel. That could be quite frustrating as it didn’t feel like you could make as much of a difference yourself as a driver, you needed the car underneath you and needed to ensure you stayed within the limits of the car.
“This year the cars are much much lower downforce and much more on the limit. You can catch slides more easily, and the slightly lower grip makes for a very exciting car to drive. As a car, I’m enjoying driving them, they remind me of some of the cars I drove coming up through the junior series, and I say that as a big compliment, you really feel like you can make a difference.
“I’ve said before that it’s not the car I’m struggling with, it’s the bit behind us that I’m not enjoying as much – the power unit regulations. I had a scenario in Japan where the battery deployment triggered, even though I didn’t really want it to, and I had to overtake Lewis as a result.
“That meant I was then a sitting duck on the next straight, where I had actually wanted to use the battery. For me, that’s taking too much control away from the driver, but I know that the FIA and all the stakeholders of the sport are looking into it: there has been good dialogue with the FIA on this topic, so I am confident that something will be done for when we go racing in Miami again.”
Will changes be made to the FIA regulations before the Miami GP?
It’s likely that we will see some changes to regulations ahead of the next race on the calendar, the Miami Grand Prix at the start of May.
The FIA met earlier this month to discuss if any changes needed to be made to the sporting regulations, and they confirmed that it would be one of three meetings to take place ahead of the Miami Grand Prix in May.
They’ve suggested that the April 20 meeting will be to go through the proposed options for energy management rule tweaks, agreeing on a consensus for the way in which the season will proceed.
Sam Cook is a talented young sports journalist and social media professional who now specialises in Formula 1, having previously worked as a football journalist and a local news reporter for a variety of different brands.
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