Max Verstappen ‘will not be champion forever and should be celebrated’

Max Verstappen’s dominance of Formula One must be “celebrated and not chastised”, former team boss Otmar Szafnauer has said.

Red Bull’s Verstappen is on course to take his fourth world championship in as many seasons after winning four of the opening five rounds so far.

But speaking ahead of this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, Szafnauer, who served as team principal at Aston Martin and Alpine, said: “You can’t get rid of Max. The sport has gone through this before. Max will not be champion forever, and it will change.

“We have had Michael (Schumacher) and Lewis (Hamilton) dominating in the past, and we have to celebrate Max for his brilliance and not chastise him for winning all the time.”

There are fears within the sport that Verstappen’s stranglehold could drive F1’s new Netflix fanbase away.

However, American Szafnauer believes a fourth race in the United States – to follow Miami, Las Vegas and Austin – could be integral in preventing interest from waning.

He continued: “It is amazing what Netflix and the combination of three races in America has done over there.

A reminder of how things stand