F1 News: Max Verstappen On NASCAR - "I Struggle To Watch It"
Max Verstappen dominated the 2022 F1 season, winning the driver's championship at the Japanese Grand Prix and breaking the record for the number of races won in a season with fifteen race wins under his belt.
The Red Bull driver has previously revealed that he loves MotoGP and watches religiously. However, the Belgian-Dutch driver has said that he has struggled to get into NASCAR.
The two-time champion spoke NBC Sports' Leigh Diffey reflecting on his amazing 2022 season, where he claimed his busy schedule means he has to prioritise what he watches, and this is only going to get more difficult with the 23 confirmed races for the 2023 season with a potential twenty-fourth. Diffey quizzed Verstappen on if he has any interest in American motorsports. He responded:
“I always try to watch as much as I can. The thing is that, mainly, with IndyCar, when I come home from another race, that’s around 10-11 in the evening so that’s okay.
“But normally, NASCAR starts around like midnight! So, unless I want to make it a late night, I can watch it, but unfortunately like for most of the nights, I struggle to watch it.”
Although Verstappen has said that he doesn't watch NASCAR, he explained in an interview with Dan Katz that he had a huge amount of respect for the driver's. He explained:
“It is a completely different discipline. For [Formula One drivers] to get good at it, it will also take quite a bit of time.
“I do race a bit of let’s say NASCAR on my simulator at home and it’s completely different discipline. So, for us to get good at it, it would also take quite a bit of time.
“It’s not easy, and, it’s the other way around for them as well. You know, to get good in a pod car or whatever. It also takes time. You need to really grow up with it.”