Why don't drivers enter other series like Verstappen? F1 Q&A

Breaking news from the world of sport: Why don't drivers enter other series like Verstappen? F1 Q&AImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The Mercedes of Max Verstappen, Lucas Auer, Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella was leading the Nurburgring 24 Hours with three hours and 20 minutes left when a broken driveshaft forced them off the trackPublished12 minutes agoFormula 1 is back in North America this weekend for the Canadian Grand Prix, the fifth round of the 2026 season. Mercedes' George Russell, who won the race last year, will be aiming to narrow the 20-point gap to his team-mate Kimi Antonelli at the top of the drivers' championship.

Before the race in Montreal, F1 correspondent Andrew Benson answers your latest questions. Why don't other F1 drivers enter different forms of motor racing like Max Verstappen is currently doing with the endurance racing? - Paul Max Verstappen's outing at the Nurburgring 24 Hours last weekend generated a lot of interest, but it is no accident that he is only the third grand prix driver in more than 20 years - and probably longer - to race seriously elsewhere while competing in Formula 1.

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The other big name to do so was Fernando Alonso, towards the end of his first career in F1, when he took part in the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 24 Hours and then joined Toyota for the World Endurance Championship while he was still under contract to McLaren. Nico Hulkenberg also raced at Le Mans when he was at Force India in 2015. The main reason drivers do not generally do this is that their contracts forbid it.

Well, risk is the first obvious reason. Then there are potential contractual clashes, and the lack of time available to devote to doing something like this properly. In Verstappen's case, it is a question of the balance of power between driver and team.

He has massive leverage with Red Bull that most other drivers do not have. He is a four-time world champion, and the team are desperate to keep him happy. On a general level, but also because right now they know he is not exactly enamoured with F1.

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Alonso's situation was not dissimilar. His McLaren was uncompetitive. The team wanted to keep him happy.

And in the case of the Indy adventure particularly, McLaren F1 boss Zak Brown is a motorsport fan through and through and he thought it was a cool thing to do. On Verstappen, by the way, he was absolutely - and unsurprisingly - outstanding at the Nordschleife. His first stint in the car on Saturday afternoon took his team from 10th on the road to the lead.

A lead they never lost until the driveshaft failure that cost them the win on Sunday morning. Most of that was Verstappen overtaking other cars, albeit a small number pitted out of his way on divergent strategies. But the race also underlined why F1 teams don't let drivers do this sort of thing.

The story has climbed to the top of the sports agenda, with fans and analysts following closely.