Max Verstappen makes decision over chasing ultimate motorsport title

Max Verstappen has ruled himself out of challenging for
motorsport's ultimate title – the Triple Crown.  Consisting of the
F1 world championship, the Indianapolis 500, and overall victory at
the Le Mans 24 Hours, the only driver to achieve this is Graham
Hill.  Hill won the F1 title in 1962 and 1968, the 1966 Indy 500
and completed the set with the 1972 Le Mans victory.  Another
metric to the crown is the Indy 500, overall Le Mans victory, and
the Monaco GP – which Hill is also the only driver to achieve,
winning five Monaco GPs between 1963-1969 to be known as 'Mr
Monaco.' In recent years, during his F1 disillusionment, Fernando
Alonso chased the Triple Crown, winning Le Mans in 2018 and 2019 to
go with his 2005 and 2006 F1 titles, and two Monaco wins.  However,
he has not won the Indy 500, coming close and being in contention
on debut in 2017 before an engine failure put him out before
suffering the ignominy of being 'bumped' from qualifying in 2019. 
Verstappen, who won the NLS race at the Nurburgring on Saturday, is
a big fan of sportscar racing, and has declared his interest in
competing at Le Mans.  But the four-time champion, who has two
Monaco GPs on his CV, has ruled out an attempt on the Triple Crown,
due to the Indy 500. "Le Mans, yes, but I am not interested in the
Triple Crown," Verstappen told media , including RacingNews365.  "I
enjoy watching IndyCar, but I do not need to drive it myself." As
for the possibility of featuring in more GT races, such as the
Nurburgring 24 Hours, scheduled for between the Miami and Canadian
GPs in 2026, Verstappen indicated it would be "impossible" to
decide now if he could compete. "For the future, it also depends on
how next season goes in F1 with the new rules," he said. "It's
impossible to say now if I can compete in other things outside of
[F1 next year]."