F1 warned over ‘sleepless nights’ danger of Max Verstappen exit

Mark Webber believes it is crucial for Formula 1 that it does not lose Max Verstappen - if only to ensure his rivals continue to suffer sleepless nights.

Verstappen has made no secret of his dislike for this year's regulations, leaving the door open for a potential exit at the end of the season, although the likes of his father Jos and FIA president Muhammed Ben Sulayem do not believe he will walk away.

Nevertheless, the four-time F1 champion is currently mulling over his future, and even after the tweaks made to the regulations in the build-up to last weekend's Miami Grand Prix, and the improved performance of his RB22, Verstappen was still not happy.

It now becomes a question of what needs to happen to convince the 28-year-old Dutch driver to stay, as he has stated that even a winning car would not alter his thinking on how he feels about the current machinery.

Former Red Bull driver Webber feels that for all concerned with the sport, from owner Liberty Media to Verstappen's 21 rivals on track and the sport's fans, he cannot leave.

"Naturally, Red Bull would love Max to stay," said Webber, speaking exclusively to RacingNews365. "That's incredibly easy to predict.

"Holistically, looking at the whole sport, when you've got someone like him, characters like Verstappen are what the sport needs. We need these people.

"People switch on the TV because of Max Verstappen, and Liberty know that. Teams know that. He's important."

F1 titles have given him choices

Webber can understand, however, why Verstappen is being swayed.

"But if the stimuli are decreasing for him, in conjunction with his experience, and I'm not saying for one minute he's losing motivation, but, of course, it granularly drifts away, then he's earned the right to make choices," said Webber.

"He's got an immense trophy cabinet, he's delivered year in, year out, and that gives him choices."

Reiterating his firm belief that Verstappen remain in F1, he added: "Long and short, it's really important that we keep Max in the sport, because he's lifting every driver in the field, and that's what Formula 1 is about. You have to be continually lifted.

"It's like Rafa [Nadal] and Roger [Federer]. If Rafa is not there, is Roger lifting, and vice versa. You need someone who is giving you those sleepless nights, and Verstappen has done that for a long period. 

"Personally, if you talk about being neutral, and, of course, I'm biased to Oscar [referring to his management of McLaren driver Piastri], but if I'm neutral in terms of the sport, then I want Max to be in Formula 1, of course."