Max Verstappen 'role model' status defended: 'He has the balls to say it'

Former F1 driver Timo Glock has stated Max Verstappen “has the balls” to speak out in criticism of the new regulations, making him a role model within motorsport.

Verstappen has been unhappy with the way the current cars must be driven to extract performance, with a greater emphasis this year placed on energy management and deployment.

The four-time champion has also been exploring other forms of motorsport and competed in the Nürburgring 24 Hours last weekend.

His participation generated huge interest, with more than 350,000 fans attending across the weekend.

Verstappen’s passion for motorsport has not gone unnoticed by Glock, who spoke exclusively to RacingNews365 at the Nordschleife.

“Not only for the Nordschleife, I would say for motorsport in general worldwide, for me, he's a role model,” the Dörr Motorsport driver said.

“The best example is last year when the F1 film got presented in New York. All the other F1 drivers were there, showing up in a suit taking photos. 

“Max was inspired and doing a GT3 test with his team which shows everything, that he doesn't care about it. He cares about the sport.

“That is why he's vocal about F1 at the moment. He's not negative against it, he's saying what he thinks to save F1 because they are on the wrong route at the moment.”

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Verstappen's criticism of the new regulations has been mirrored by some other drivers, but the Dutchman has been particularly vocal, admitting they could shorten his career in the F1 paddock.

Glock agreed with the 28-year-old's stance, stating: “I don't think it's the right way to drive around in F1 cars, you need to go slower through a corner to be quicker at the end, that doesn't make sense. 

“That's not the DNA of F1 and that's what he's saying as well. He has the balls to say it, and he would say every time what he thinks, and that's what makes him the Max Verstappen we know.

“That's what he's doing on race tracks, that's what he's doing outside of a car, and he doesn't care.”

Glock also pointed to a famous incident two years ago when Verstappen tackled a 24-hour sim race alongside his F1 duties at Imola.

The German highlighted it summarised the passion and support Verstappen has for racing.

“One or two years ago at Imola, at the F1 race, his sim racing team did a 24-hour race and he did a stint in the middle of the night,” he said.

“Everyone was like, 'how are you going to do at Imola?'. He jumped in the F1 car the next day, and won. 

“He just takes care of the sport. That's for me the reason why he's a role model, like Rafael Nadal, like [Roger] Federer, like [Novak] Djokovic, like Michael Schumacher.

“All the big guys who work their ass off to get better, these are the role models and that's what he's doing. 

“There are reasons why he's doing that sim racing stuff - it makes him better, and that's the reason why he shows up here and just drives.

“He jumps into the car, and straight away he's quick, because he did 2,000 laps in the simulator but not like for fun, because he wants to understand the track.

“I talked to Andreas Gulden who did the license here with him, and he could not believe how detailed he was on the lap around here. He wanted to know every corner, where the river comes when it's raining. That shows how he is, and that's so impressive to see.”