Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has affirmed that he has no interest in racing in the Indy 500 right now amid speculation that me may try and go for the elusive triple crown.
The triple crown consists of the Indy, the Le Mans 24 Hours, and either the Monaco Grand Prix or the Formula 1 world championship.
The 200 laps of the Indianapolis oval are dangerous, unforgiving and intensely challenging, with walls waiting to snatch up drivers spinning in excess of 200mph.
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Graham Hill is the only driver to have claimed all three accolades, winning the F1 championship twice, and the Monaco Grand Prix five times, claiming the Indy 500 and the Le Mans race in 1966 and 1972 respectively.
Verstappen has a great deal of respect for all that compete in the Indy 500, but does not want to jeopardise his F1 career by taking part any time soon.
“I never had the desire to get the triple crown at least, not the IndyCar race,” he conceded.
“I do appreciate what they do. It’s insane, those drivers… I have a lot of respect for what they do, but for me now that I’ve been in F1 for so long, I don’t need to risk my life or get an injury to my legs or anything. It’s not worth it anymore.”
The giant Le Mans trophy, won by Fernando Alonso in 2018 and 2019 with Toyota, is something that he would like to have a go at though.
“Maybe Le Mans. I like endurance races, so I’ll probably do a few, hopefully soon,” stated the Dutchman.
Former Caterham and Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson won the Indy 500 last weekend after issues for Scott Dixon and Alex Palou, and he became the second-ever Swede to win the race after Kenny Brack.
He survived a late red flag and an onslaught from Patricio O’Ward to claim a famous victory in the 106th running of the event.
The 31-year-old, who scored points 11 times in 100 races in the pinnacle of motorsport, revealed that King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden had sent him a message to congratulate him.
“It’s been crazy, it’s been headline news everywhere on TV, on [the] internet, in newspapers, everywhere,” he told CBS4.
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“I even got a message from the king congratulating me, so the king of Sweden took notice, it’s been big.”
Former Renault, Lotus and Haas driver Romain Grosjean crashed out of the race for Andretti.