All the four-time world champion wants is a fast car, insists Red Bull boss, Laurent Mekies in response to Verstappen speculation.
"We are having zero discussions about those aspects," said Mekies in the aftermath of the Dutchman's comments post-race in which he admitted that he is considering his future, making clear that, for him, there is life outside F1.
"We have a lot of work to do," the Frenchman admitted, but I'm sure by the time we give him a fast car, he will be a much happier Max. And by the time we give him a car that he can push and make the difference with, he will also be a happier Max. So, honestly, 100% of our discussions right now, is that," he insisted.
"And as per the regs, as you know, they are coming with some good aspects and more tricky aspects," he added. "And as a sport, with the other teams, we will meet in the break to see how we can tweak them to make things better."
The trouble is however, that it isn't all about the car, for the Dutchman was expressing his concern over the regulations for well over a year, in terms of energy management, the 'look' of the racing, and even closing speeds, the latter now being the talk of the paddock after Oliver Bearman's horrific crash.
The number of drivers critical of the new rules was already growing, with the all-conquering Mercedes pair being the main supporters of the overhaul, but Bearman's crash has changed all that, for now drivers are not merely frustrated by the artificiality of the racing, the yo-yoing praised to the rafters by the like of Stefano Domenicali, Toto Wolff, Fred Vasseur, broadcasters and large swathes of the media, but now fearing that the sport is riding its luck and that sooner or later someone is going to get hurt.
Working overtime to silence the fans, the sport is now seeking to silence the drivers, but thankfully, not all of them are overall-wearing corporates like George Russell, thankfully the likes of Carlos Sainz - whose father was considering running for the FIA presidency - warns that the powers that be are putting spectacle before safety.
"If there is one thing we all agree, I think, all teams and sport, FIA, F1 and the drivers, is that I think we all would like to see qualifying to be a flat-out qualifying or as close as possible to flat-out qualifying," said Mekies, clearly still not getting the message. "So, it's the first thing we are as a sport trying to focus on.
"And what will happen then is that once you improve, or once you get to an extent to have flat-out qualifying, you will automatically have a race with potentially a bit less gaming or the level of gaming in the race you can probably adjust.
"And there is very different opinions in the pit lane on that level. But I think the most important is that we get closer to flat-out qualifying and that's what as a sport we try to achieve when we meet.
"Personally, I think the focus should be on how to sort it properly for 2027. Because we are still in time to do enough if we want to address that for 2027 and have enough flat-out qualifying in 2027. And then I'm sure there is a number of small things that we can do in 2026."
Domenicali, Mohammed ben Sulayem and the various team bosses can barely utter a sentence that doesn't include the word "fans", one of the sport's main media mouthpieces even runs regular surveys in order that F1 can give the people what they want.
Yet criticism of the new rules on social media is resulting in bans, even legal threats, while clever manipulation of what is being broadcast is taking F1 to 1984 levels of 'censorship'.
While the likes of Mekies continue to think that it is all about the look of qualifying, the sport risks further alienating the very people it claims to exist for.
On the other hand, in order to appease the manufacturers and certain political lobbies, F1 has gone down a side road from which it cannot easily extract itself.
Those who regard Verstappen as "spoiled", a driver who only moans when he is not in the best car, are entitled to that opinion, but should he walk away it would be a damaging look for the sport.
However, if the sport continues to ride its luck and a driver is injured, it might not just be the Dutchman who walks away.
Fans of a certain age will remember Kyalami 1982, when the drivers staged a strike, led, ironically by Niki Lauda. It revolved around various issues, but at the core was unrest over the new superlicences which effectively tied drivers to their teams for three seasons.
While the matter was resolved and the race went ahead, the hard-nosed FISA president of the time, Jean-Marie Balestre subsequently fined all those involved, the fines were later reduced and the sport's governing body criticised for the way in which it handled the matter.
At that time you had the governing body, the constructor teams and the independents, who were represented by FOCA, the Formula One Constructors' Association, led by a certain Bernard Charles Ecclestone.
Now, however, we have F1, the FIA and the teams united, seeing only the big bucks at stake, and not willing to risk it all for the complaints of a few "spoiled" drivers.
On the other hand, in the eyes of the fans, the drivers are the stars, and consequently have more power than they had in 1982.
Let's hope that the situation can be resolved, and that we don't have to wait until 2027. The powers that be are making enough off the backs of their stars, now it is time to listen to them.
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