FIA president says F1 would miss Max Verstappen but 'go ahead' if the Red Bull driver walks away

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The President of Formula 1's governing body said the sport would miss Max Verstappen if he follows through with his remarks about potentially retiring at the end of the season, but he added that F1 would move on if the Red Bull driver decides to walk away.

“If he goes, we will miss him, but the sport will go ahead,” FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said Saturday at the Miami Grand Prix. “So many stars come and go — and teams. But the Formula 1 will always stay. FIA will always stay.”

Verstappen has been a vocal critic of the 2026 cars’ reliance on electrical power and the compromises it forces drivers to make on the track, going as far as suggesting this could be his last season in F1.

During the sport's five-week break — a pair of April races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were called off because of the war in Iran — the FIA made changes to its power-unit regulations while taking input from drivers on how the organization should address complaints about the car.

Verstappen, a four-time F1 champion, said this week that more significant changes are needed.

“It’s not what we need yet to really make it flat-out. It’s complicated to get everyone to agree,” he said Thursday. “I just hope for next year we can make really big, big changes. Like I said, it’s a tickle, but it needs to be more than a tickle, for sure.”

Ben Sulayem said he had a positive recent interaction with Verstappen and told him he’s a fan of his driving and mental approach. He added that Verstappen has said “what he feels.”

“But what he says, is it what he wants to do?” he said. “I don’t — I really don’t think so.”

Verstappen qualified second for Sunday's race at Miami and said afterward he's feeling more comfortable in the car.

“I don't feel like I'm a passenger anymore in the car,” he said.

Ben Sulayem said Christian Horner would be welcomed if he decides to return to F1 after the longtime Red Bull team principal was abruptly fired last July, ending a 20-year stint that included eight drivers’ titles.

The FIA president added the sport misses Horner, who had been the Red Bull team principal since it entered F1 as a full constructor in 2005.

“I talk to him regularly,” he said. “And I feel he will be back.”

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