The CEO of Formula E Jeff Dodds has vowed to donate $250,000 to charity if Max Verstappen fails to defend his Formula 1 world title this year.
Verstappen has won the last three Drivers’ Championships and is a heavy odds-on favourite to clinch a fourth in a row.
Testing for the new season began in Bahrain on Wednesday and Verstappen set the fastest lap time on day one of testing, before Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez did the same the following day.
The performances of the Red Bull pair were ominous for the chasing pack, with the constructors’ new car receiving early praise for the improvements that have been made in the off-season.
Dodds suggested that Formula E is much more interesting that Formula 1 because there are no overwhelming favourites in the sport.
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"99% Max has got this in the bag"💥 @FIAFormulaE CEO Jeff Dodds puts $250k on the line – will it make Formula 1 more competitive? 🤯 pic.twitter.com/dwFpeBGFzz
— TNT Sports (@tntsports) February 21, 2024
In a TNT Sports interview with Jermaine Jenas, Dodds said: “99 per cent he (Verstappen) gets that trophy. If he doesn’t win it we’ll give a quarter of a million dollars to the charity of choice of the other driver that wins it.
“It wouldn’t be the worst day in the office to give a load of money to charity but absolutely he (Verstappen) is nailed on to win that season.
“I know I’m going to turn up to Sao Paulo (the location for the next Formula E race) and neither of us have any idea who’s going to win that race, so I’m excited by that.
“I know as an F1 fan, I absolutely already know who’s winning. You can’t win 19 out of 21 races in one season, come back after a bit of development on the cars, and not win the next one. I just can’t see it.”
