Expressing his concern over the increase in the number of races, Belgian driver Max Verstappen had mentioned that he would prefer to quit the sport quite early before the whole scheduling drains him out. While that attracted plenty of support from the F1 world, there have been plenty who suggested that Verstappen was way out of his line with those comments. 

Leading that list is Ralf Schumacher, who has called out Verstappen’s threat and asked him to follow through with it by quitting F1. Schumacher went on to add that if the Red Bull star, who has won the last two World Championships, must adjust to the changing scenarios in the F1 world rather than complaining about it.

The brother of F1 icon Michael Schumacher believes the sport will continue to thrive with or without Verstappen in the future. “The past, the present and the future have shown or will show that Formula 1 is much bigger than any individual,” the six-time grand prix winner said. 

Verstappen has been one of the most outspoken drivers on the proposed changes to the race weekend centred around sprints. The 2021 season saw the introduction of sprints to F1, originally held at three different venues. That number has been increased to six for this season, starting with this weekend’s race in Azerbaijan.

This year’s edition of sprints will also see a change to the format of the whole race weekend with an extra qualifying session held to determine the grid for the sprint. It means there is only one hour-long practice session for the entire weekend, something Verstappen doesn’t appear to be a fan of.

The two-time F1 champion said recently: “I hope there won’t be too many changes, otherwise I won’t be around for too long. I am not a fan of it at all. When we do all that kind of stuff, the weekend becomes very intense and we already do a lot of races.”

Verstappen has once again taken a convincing lead at the top and is being ably backed by his Red Bull driver Sergio Perez. Follow Nextbet Sports to know fresh news about the F1 world.