Max Verstappen: «I haven’t driven a gokart since 2016»

Whoever is old enough to remember knows that the first major global ambassador for karting was none other than Ayrton Senna. From his throne of immense popularity (during the 80s and 90s, the Brazilian was a living icon on par with Michael Jordan or Valentino Rossi), he never missed an opportunity to talk about go-karting. But it wasn’t just because he had raced in karts before Formula 1—no, it wasn’t self-referential. He simply loved this sport to death and believed in what it could offer young people from any background. Senna had a track built practically in his backyard, the famous Tatui Ranch, less than two hours from São Paulo. On that track, Ayrton not only raced whenever he could, but also invited friends and enthusiasts for races and driving days on the track. Videos of those days ended up on TV, went around the world, and, well, you know how it works: people started getting passionate en masse about those “tiny racing cars driven by Ayrton Senna.”

Now, let’s talk about Max Verstappen. While every single FIA race streamed on YouTube includes, in its commentary, constant references to Max and his karting titles, the Dutchman himself rarely highlights that part of his career. When mainstream journalism does it, it’s often the 'unorthodox methods' of his dad Jos during the karting days that get remembered, more than Max's love for the sport. Max, however, doesn’t hide his love for SIM Racing, a passion the current F1 World Champion is known to dedicate much of his free time to. Now, let's consider Max’s words, which can’t go unnoticed by those who not only love karting but also want to promote it. In an interview with popular podcaster Jarno Opmeer, when asked “Do you still race gokarts sometimes?” Max replied: "I haven’t driven a proper gokart, KZ or any kart, since 2016. And you know what? I don’t miss it at the moment. I don’t wanna have my ribs being bruised or anything like that. I fell like I have done it so much And I have to say one more thing: I did so much karting when I was a kid also, I needed a break. that I just got fed up with it—I needed to stop. But I do have friends in karting who keep in inviting me, I’ll do it soon again..."



The reasons why modern F1 drivers don’t race in karts are primarily tied to contractual bans imposed by the teams, along with other restrictions. Karting is considered a dangerous sport, with the risk of injuries (Max is right when he talks about ribs—every karting driver knows what he meant). So, yes, they don’t race because their teams formally prevent them from doing so. At the same time, however, F1 drivers are still involved in karting, at least from a promotional standpoint: four of them endorse chassis that are sold worldwide under their brand names, and they occasionally appear at karting tracks to sign autographs and take photos. The test sessions they rarely organize last no more than a few hours, and these events remain, in fact, little more than photo opportunities. Gone are the days of Bercy-Paris, with Senna and Prost battling it out in a sports arena in front of 40,000 people, or races like those at in Pordenone (where Fiera Motori was hel in the 90s) or the ‘Bologna Motor Show’, where F1 drivers participated en masse (and where Luca Badoer, in a spectacular flipping crash, even broke a collarbone) to the great joy of karting fans at the time. That’s how things stand today.
 

A side note on this topic, in conclusion, can be made about the contractual bans: MotoGP riders, particularly those from Valentino Rossi’s Academy but really all of them, train a lot outside of the World Championship races. They do so with supersport motorcycles, minibikes and pit-bikes (like Ohvale), motocross, enduro, and dirt track, as widely documented on the riders’ social media profiles. It seems a bit odd, then, that F1, MotoGP's ‘family’ sport, which objectively carries a higher risk of training injuries (just ask Petrucci, Dovizioso, or Rossi himself), doesn’t impose such bans, or at least, it’s a topic of discussion. But if Max is okay with it, well, as they say, it’s okay for the akl of them...