Ari Luyendyk “would love to see” Max Verstappen race in IndyCar after F1 retirement

Ari Luyendyk claimed he would “love to see” four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen make a move to the IndyCar Series.

Luyendyk, known as “The Flying Dutchman”, began his racing career in the early 1970s. Over his career, he won the coveted Indy 500 in 1990 and 1997, the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1998, and the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1989. The 71-year-old was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2014.

The former driver discussed what makes fellow Dutchman Verstappen so successful in F1 and revealed that he would like to see him try his hand at IndyCar. 

“I was watching the Brazilian race on Netflix, and there’s the radio communication. And then you hear Lando [Norris] on the radio, and then you hear Max, and it’s like you’re listening to a 12-year-old Lando and you’re listening to a 30-year-old veteran Max,” Luyendyk explained to The RACER Channel.

“So calm, so calculated. Like, ‘Yeah, I can last another five minutes in this weather,’ you know, and Lando was saying, ‘Oh, we’re all going to die,’ or something like that.”

He added, “He can do so much at the same time. He’s a multitask kind of guy. And I think it stems from all the racing he did as a kid in go-karting. But then the sim racing, that helps him a lot too in that – like he was following Lando somewhere, and he said he didn’t slow down enough when there was a yellow out, and Lando got a penalty for that.

“He just sees it – the whole picture – he’s got it in one nanosecond.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images

“Yeah, he’s an amazing talent. And on top of that, he’s a nice guy,” Luyendyk continued. “To me, he is.”

Luyendyk went on to discuss the Red Bull driver’s passion for all motorsports with host Paul Tracy. After claiming that he most likely follows NASCAR and IndyCar, he said: “I would love to see him in an IndyCar.”

Verstappen is currently under contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028, but he has been linked to a move to Mercedes from 2026 following performance struggles with the RB21. The four-time champion has previously shared that he doesn’t see himself staying in F1 long enough to beat Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher’s record of seven championship titles. This is to ensure he has time in his racing career to try other series such as GT3 sports car racing.