"This here is why F1 Academy is complete nonsense" - Fans react to Max Verstappen's take on how women can make it to Formula 1

Many F1 fans signaled their agreement with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen's comments on women in motorsports. The four-time F1 world champion is known for his straightforward approach on and off the track and does not mince his words while sharing his opinion.

Liberty Media, owners of F1, have been making a conscious push to have more diversity at the pinnacle of motorsport, including having more women involved in the sport. The sport recently introduced the F1 Academy, which provided a series and opportunity for the best women drivers to make their journey into other senior categories.

However, speaking to Sportskeeda, Max Verstappen said the sport should invest in the grassroots and promote the inclusion of women in karting and sim racing. He said:

“It already starts from karting or whatever, sim racing. The percentage is very low, you know, of females in motorsports and that's why the percentage of making it to the top is even smaller. We have a lot of male drivers, but also a small percentage only make it to Formula One, right? So for females even harder.

"And yeah, you know, you can also not say that, you know, two years ago, we need females in Formula One. You can't expect that in five years that it's done, you know, it takes a longer period of time, you know, you need to invest in the grassroots. And that's where it all starts.”

Following this, F1 fans took to social media to give their reactions to Max Verstappen's comments, with one fan claiming:

"This here is why F1 Academy is complete nonsense and does nothing to help the women racing in it further their careers."

Another fan added,

"Rightly said by Max. If you want to be a F1 driver u have to race to anyone doesn't matter the gender only then u can think of F1."

Another opined:

"He is an idol to both women and men"

Here are some more fan reactions to Verstappen's comments:

"100% correct. Girls need to race against boys. If that doesn't happen, they will also never enter F1. It's that simple" said a fan.

"He’s right. I’ve been sim racing for over 20 years and I’ve never seen many females in online races. I don’t know what the percentage is but it’s pretty small" wrote another.

"His mom is a great racer too," said another.

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Max Verstappen suggestions for getting more women involved in racing

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen believes that women should race against male drivers from the grassroots level and not race in a separate category, to test themselves against the best drivers in the world.

In the interview, the 27-year-old said:

"I believe personally that they have to race anyone, not just females. If you want a fair comparison, they need to race against males, because that's what they will do in F1 as well.

"So that's why I think that from go-karting, all the way to if you want to achieve the top, you need to raise the top. That’s my opinion."

Max Verstappen comes from a racing background as his father, Jos, raced in F1 for almost a decade while his mother, Sophie Kumpen, was a renowned karter in her time and raced alongside Christian Horner, Jenson Button, and others.