“What are we actually helping them with?”: Max Verstappen has questions about the next step for women in F1 despite the ‘extra attention’   

Max Verstappen had some strong pointers about women's racing and their future in F1. The Red Bull champion discussed the opportunities and possibilities of women driving in F1 and his Sim Racing team.

Formula One recently started the F1 academy season in Saudi Arabia last month. In the opening two races of the competition, Mercedes junior Doriane Pin won both the races comfortably.

However, in a freak incident in the second race, Pin was given a 20-second time penalty for failing to slow down after the checkered flag. The result dropped her to P9 as Alpine's Abbi Pulling was promoted to the winner’s spot.

Despite F1's added effort, Max Verstappen still believes that there's a lack of clarity as to what the future holds for these women drivers. In a recent interview with De Limburger in Japan, the triple world champion said:

“Team bosses don't look at whether someone is a boy or a girl. It's about how fast they are. It's good that Formula 1 now pays extra attention to women in motorsport with F1 Academy, although I question how they approach it.”

He added:

"The cars they drive are far too slow. If you ever want to get them in Formula 1, it really has to go to a higher level. Nice and nice that girls are now sponsored by Formula 1 teams, but what do we actually help them with? There is no next step for them now."

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Max Verstappen previously said that female drivers in F1 is possible

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen emphasised on the slim chances of women racing in F1. However, he didn;t rule out the possibility of a female driver driving in F1 in the future.

In an interview in December with the media, including Sportskeeda, Verstappen discussed how the odds are stacked against female drivers in F1 and the physical aspects of driving a modern F1 car in some places. Nevertheless, the Dutch Lion agreed that such abilities "were trainable" in women.

The three-time champion also said:

"If there’s a woman who is beating everyone else, then naturally they will have the opportunity to get to Formula 1, but it’s just that there are less women in the sport, then naturally of course the percentage to make it to the top is lower.”

Verstappen's mother Sophie Kumphen was herself a great kart driver. She competed and beat some top drivers (including Max's Red Bull boss Christian Horner) who would eventually go on and race in F1.