“You shouldn’t be a fake person to be an ambassador of F1”- Max Verstappen explains why he does not follow in Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel’s footsteps

Unlike Sebastian Vettel or Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen prefers to distance himself from matters that aren’t related to F1. 

Vettel and Hamilton have been outspoken about various issues that plague society over the last few years. Human rights, LGBTQ+ rights, diversity and climate concerns are some of the things the two legendary drivers want addressed.

Verstappen, who is on his own path towards greatness right now does not want to get involved in these matters. The 2021 World Champion wants to focus solely on performance, and not on social issues that won’t help his driving.

Max Verstappen says Nelson Piquet’s comment made towards Lewis Hamilton was “not correct”, but the three-time #F1 world champion is “definitely not a racist”.

⬇️https://t.co/okWVeW03IK

— Autosport (@autosport) June 30, 2022

The Dutchman does not consider these issues unimportant, but he does not want his racing career to be a platform from where he can address them. However, he does accept the fact that what Vettel does is good and admits that having different characters on the grid helps.

“Of course, I’m in a different stage of my career,” he said to GP racing. “And of course, when Seb feels really strong about things, he should say it. Which he does. That’s also great, because you have really different characters in Formula 1. Because that makes F1 special.”

Also read: “There were a lot of things I wasn’t aware of”- Sebastian Vettel reveals his luxurious lifestyle that he gave up for environment’s sake

Max Verstappen prefers speaking his mind than being fake

Verstappen has always been blunt towards questions that people throw at him. He is not afraid of speaking his mind out, which can often be seen when he speaks to his race engineer during a Grand Prix.

This is why the 24-year old feels that he should stay away from social causes whilst in F1. He does not want to be someone fake, just for the sake of being an ambassador of F1.

And Max Verstappen, is still a sports person (specifically F1 racing driver) by profession same like Lewis Hamilton. Being advocate for social injustice, is not his obligation. It is voluntary. Verstappen is only contractually obligated to his employer (Red Bull F1 Racing).

— Azzuri Viva (@azzuri_viva) June 29, 2022

“I think, it should always be from yourself, like how you are,” he added. You shouldn’t be a fake person, trying to just be the ambassador for Formula 1.

“You should always speak your mind. Of course, you need to be a little careful. But in general, just be yourself. And I think then you’re already naturally a kind of ambassador anyway.”

Verstappen is currently 38 points ahead of Charles Leclerc in the 2022 F1 standings. If the Red Bull driver can keep up with his good form, he’s on course to winning a second consecutive World Championship.

Also read: “I could give Lewis a run for the money” – When Max Verstappen almost applied for Mercedes