The CEO of Formula E has promised to pay a quarter of a million dollars (£198,000) to charity if Max Verstappen fails to win the world championship this year.
Verstappen has won the title for the last three years in a row. Every other driver who has achieved that feat has gone on to win four in a row.
FE CEO Mike Dodds made the bet in an interview for the series’ UK broadcaster TNT Sports, saying there was a 99% chance Verstappen would retain his title.
“If he doesn’t win it, there’s 19 other drivers, if any one of the other 19 drivers wins, we’ll give a quarter of a million dollars to the charity of the choice of the other driver that wins,” said Dodds.
He believes there is little chance Verstappen will fail to win the title following his dominant campaign last year. He contrasted the situation with the competitiveness seen in Formula E, where 2023 champion Jake Dennis was one of seven drivers to win the 16 races last year.
“It wouldn’t be the worst day in the office to give a load of money to charity,” Dodds told FE presenter Jermaine Jenas. “But absolutely he is nailed on to win that season.
“For me as a fan of Formula E and Formula 1, I know I’m going to turn up to Sao Paolo [for the next FE round], I run Formula E, you’re in the presentation team there, neither of us have any idea who’s going to win that race. So I’m quite excited by that.
“I know as a Formula 1 fan, the season is about to start, I’ll watch it and the fanfare and everything goes with it, but I absolutely already know who’s winning. You can’t win 19 out of [22] races in one season, go in the off-season, bit of development on the cars, come back for the next one and not win it. I just can’t see it.”
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