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Verstappen will not be seen doing this in 2025: 'I don't enjoy it anymore'
Max Verstappen won't be part of as much light-hearted content for Red Bull Racing in 2025. The Dutchman revealed it himself in Australia, with manager Raymond Vermeulen explaining to Formule 1 Magazine why this decision has been made.
''Big brands like Oracle, Tag Heuer and Heineken are investing a lot of money in global campaigns around Max. There are buses here in the centre of Melbourne with Max's image on them, it all looks slick. Then it doesn't fit when I subsequently see a video on TikTok where Max has to puncture balloons. You don't make videos like that with a four-time world champion'', Verstappen's manager revealed.
Verstappen spending less time on Red Bull's camera
Verstappen was also direct about the new direction on Thursday. During the press conference, the four-time world champion kept his answers brief, deliberately avoiding controversy. The Red Bull Racing driver emphasized that he wants to focus on racing rather than off-track matters.
''What I always like are serious, productive things. Not those nonsensical things. If it's just constructive stuff that maybe you can learn something from or bring something out, I do like that. I like to do that then. But the TikToks and stuff, yeah I don't have much to do with that,'' Verstappen told GPblog and others on Thursday.
In the early years at Red Bull Racing, Verstappen did enjoy it, especially when he was paired up with Daniel Ricciardo. "Social media was different then, too, in 2016 or 2017. The world was a bit different then than now. Now, it's still possible, of course, but I don't really enjoy it that much anymore."
The Dutchman finished FP1 in fifth place with a lap set on the medium tyres. The four-time world champion is over four-tenths behind pacesetter Lando Norris, who set his lap on the soft tyres.
This article was written in collaboration with Tim Kraaij
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