Max Verstappen has insisted, ahead of this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, that he does not "want to leave" Formula 1, with active conversations underway with the FIA to make changes to the new power unit regulations.
Since the official shakedown test in Barcelona at the end of January, the four-time world champion has been highly critical of the new rules.
In Barcelona, he compared the cars to "Formula E on steroids," before insisting at the Australian GP that the new cars had made him feel "completely empty."
Verstappen has been one of, if not the most, critical drivers of the new regulations, raising further questions over his future in the championship.
This uncertainty only grew after the opening round, with it having been announced on Tuesday that Verstappen will make his Nurburgring 24 Hours debut this May.
Despite Verstappen's unhappiness with the new rules, F1 CEO and president Stefano Domenicali is adamant that the Dutchman does not want to leave.
The 28-year-old agrees with Domenicali's view but would still like to be having a more enjoyable time in F1, although the satisfaction he is missing is being made up with his other activities.
Discussing Domenicali's belief that Verstappen does not want to leave F1, he replied ahead of this weekend: "Yeah, I don't really want to leave. Like I said, I wish I had a bit more fun, for sure. But I'm also doing other stuff that is a lot of fun.
"I get to race the Nordschleife, and I hope in the coming years I can do Spa-Francorchamps, hopefully Le Mans, you know. So I'm combining stuff to find other things that I really enjoy as well. Of course, [I have] my team going on, so I have a lot of distractions at the same time—positive distractions, I would call them.
"But at the same time, it's a bit conflicting, because I don't really enjoy driving the car, but I do enjoy working with all the people in the team and from the engine department as well. So, yeah, it's almost like a bit of a mind… Can't swear it's a 5k [fine]," joked Verstappen, before Gabriel Bortoleto suggested it was actually a €100,000 fine.
Verstappen responded before continuing with his answer: "100k? No? Euros? Swearing? No, it's 5k. I questioned if it was the word or the sentence, or anyway, you know what I mean, right? So no, I don't want to leave. But I also hope, of course, that it gets better.
"I've had discussions with F1 and the FIA, and I think we are working towards something hopefully, and hopefully that will improve everything."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they look back on the Australian GP and look ahead to China! The trio discuss the first taste of F1's new regulations, Max Verstappen's frustration but also Lewis Hamilton's striking positivity.
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