Max Verstappen has recently been the most dominant driver on the F1 grid thanks to the outstanding performances he produces week in and week out. At the age of just 25, the Dutchman already has two world championships to his name and is on course to winning his third this year. As Verstappen carries on his pursuit of a third title, his manager, Raymond Vermeulen, has shared his experience of working with the Red Bull driver.
Vermeulen is responsible for managing the career of Max alongside the Dutchman’s father, Jos Verstappen. And no matter how difficult it is to manage the image of a young double world champion, Vermeulen has insisted that he enjoys the challenges his job brings.
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In his recent interview, Vermeulen explained some of the responsibilities that he has as Max’s manager. And as he did so, he also explained what the future holds for Max amid rumors that the 25-year-old may leave Red Bull before his contract expires.
Vermeulen explains what he enjoys most about managing Verstappen
While speaking in a recent conversation with Dutch magazine Formule 1 (as quoted by sportsmole.co.uk), Raymond Vermeulen began by praising Max Verstappen. He explained how he could never have the energy for someone else as he has for Max.
Vermeulen then went on to explain the challenges of the job and revealed what he likes most about it. “Making deals is fun,” said Vermeulen as he explained how he is helping Max’s brand image grow.
Vermeulen then added that the possibilities are endless to help Max‘s image grow and that the Dutchman just needed to keep performing on track. He then concluded his remarks by explaining what personality of Verstappen helps the Dutchman the most in gathering his fans’ attention.
“As soon as he wears a helmet, he is a lion that tries to eat everyone. And I think that appeals to people,” explained Vermeulen. Since Max has such a huge fan following, his supporters will now just hope that he continues to race for as long as possible.
How long will Max Verstappen continue to race with Red Bull?
Soon after Max Verstappen won his second world championship at the end of last year, he explained on various occasions about how he has begun to lost interest in F1. In a conversation with Autosport earlier this year, the Dutchman questioned if he was living a good life as an F1 driver despite earning a whopping $55 million in salary each year.
While Verstappen has made it clear that he will honor his current Red Bull contract, speculations have still arisen that he may be keen on moving to a rival team for a new challenge. Even though such rumors have become widespread, Raymond Vermeulen has shut them down.
In the same interview with Formule 1, Vermeulen explained why these rumors made no sense to him. He believes that since Verstappen is currently in a position where he is winning races and challenging for the world championship, there is no reason for the Dutchman to leave the Milton Keynes outfit.
Irrespective of what Verstappen decides in the future, the focus will undoubtedly be on him as he is one of the most popular drivers on the current grid.
