{"id":664249,"date":"2026-05-11T17:07:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T17:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/664249\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T17:07:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T17:07:11","slug":"f1-urged-to-keep-of-hold-of-important-max-verstappen-by-ex-red-bull-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/664249\/","title":{"rendered":"F1 urged to keep of hold of ‘important’ Max Verstappen by ex-Red Bull winner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Red Bull driver Mark Webber has outlined why it is \u201creally important\u201d that Formula 1<\/a> holds on to Max Verstappen, amid continuing speculation about the Dutchman\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

Verstappen has cut a glum figure since the start of 2026, struggling with both an underperforming RB22 and his own personal objection to the sport\u2019s new power unit regulations.<\/p>\n

The four-time World Champion has been honest about his interests outside of F1 for some time, having begun his extracarricular sportscar racing last year.<\/p>\n

This has reached a new level of importance for Verstappen, with a place in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring <\/a>now cemented in his diary.<\/p>\n

The race\u2019s date was moved to cater for Verstappen\u2019s participation, underlining the clout that he brings to any form of racing.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s for this reason that Webber, speaking to RacingNews365, highlighted the importance of Verstappen\u2019s future in F1 being secured.<\/p>\n

\u201cHolistically, looking at the whole sport, when you\u2019ve got someone like him, characters like Verstappen are what the sport needs,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need these people.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople switch on the TV because of Max Verstappen, and Liberty know that. Teams know that. He\u2019s important.<\/p>\n

\"OscarMark Webber is solely focused on Oscar Piastri, but says that Max Verstappen needs to be part of F1<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really important that we keep Max in the sport, because he\u2019s lifting every driver in the field, and that\u2019s what Formula 1 is about. You have to be continually lifted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Webber, who retired from F1 in 2013, is now part of the management team of Verstappen\u2019s 2025 title rival Oscar Piastri.<\/p>\n

And whilst he naturally is carrying his best interests, Webber is clear on Verstappen remaining in F1, but admitted that his success has not only given him the breadth of additional racing opportunities, but should be free to explore them should he wish.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want Max to be in Formula 1, of course,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if the stimuli are decreasing for him, in conjunction with his experience, and I\u2019m not saying for one minute he\u2019s losing motivation, but, of course, it granularly drifts away, then he\u2019s earned the right to make choices,\u201d Webber said of Verstappen.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got an immense trophy cabinet, he\u2019s delivered year in, year out, and that gives him choices.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE \u2013 Ford and Cadillac deliver verdicts on F1 V8 plans: \u2018We\u2019ll be ready\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Red Bull driver Mark Webber has outlined why it is \u201creally important\u201d that Formula 1 holds on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":664250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,825,85],"class_list":["post-664249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-max-verstappen","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=664249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/664250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=664249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=664249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}