Max Verstappen 'granted request' by FIA to race in new series that could see him leave F1

Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen has reportedly been granted a special request by the FIA, which could even see him 'leave' the sport.

Verstappen, 27, has dominated the sport of F1 for the last four years, having won the last four Drivers’ championships.

This season, the Dutchman has secured four podium finishes and two grand prix victories, but has faced competition from the McLaren pairing of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri and currently sits third in the Drivers’ standings with 136 points.

Following last week’s Monaco Grand Prix, in which he finished fourth, Verstappen explained how he doesn’t “think about the championship”.

Max Verstappen could be compete in another sport (Credit:Getty)

"Well, honestly, I don't really think about the championship - I just want to go race by race," Verstappen told the gathered media.

"Of course, some tracks, you might be a bit more competitive, and some you will struggle a bit more. And I think it was clear that, again, in Monaco, we struggled.

"But honestly, every year we have struggled here with this new generation of cars. Only in '23 we had a massive pace advantage, and then you still win the race. But all the other years for me, personally, have always been a big struggle."

Regardless of this year’s result, Verstappen’s legacy in the sport has already been assured, and he could soon compete in another motorsport.

As reported by Formula One Aerodynamics, “Verstappen has now been officially classified as a Platinum driver by the FIA — the highest rating a driver can receive under its categorisation system.

“This status opens the door for him to race in prestigious endurance series like WEC (World Endurance Championship), IMSA, and ELMS, which all require FIA driver rankings”.

The upgrade has been confirmed via the FIA website, which clearly states that he now sports platinum categorisation.

Max Verstappen now has platinum driver categorisation (Credit:Getty)

What do driver categorisations mean?

Categorisations - also known as gradings - are split across four levels - platinum, gold, silver and bronze. Drivers with a gold or platinum license are dubbed 'professional' as they make their living from driving a race car as per autoweek.com.

Daily Sports Car explains how "the initial categorisation is based on the driver’s age and career record and is subject to change in subsequent seasons according to the recorded race pace and results of the series that are using the categorisation system".