Why Verstappen Plans Early Exit Despite Dominating F1
Nov.19 - Poised to win his fourth consecutive world championship, Max Verstappen has warned his fans not to expect his career to last forever.
"I'm not going to do what Fernando (Alonso) did, I can assure you that," the Red Bull driver told the Podpah podcast.
Indeed, like Alonso, 27-year-old Verstappen made his Formula 1 debut as a teenager. 23 years later, the now 43-year-old Alonso is still on the grid, and signed up with Aston Martin for at least two more seasons.
"For me, that's just too much of a good thing," Verstappen insists. "I love what I do, but I've already achieved what I wanted to achieve personally. Everything else is a bonus.
"When you win your eighth or ninth title, it's just more of the same. You become world champion, and world champion, and world champion. Then your next title is not special.
"I'm not going to be around long enough to win ten or twelve world titles," the Dutchman warned.
In fact, Verstappen is signed up with Red Bull through 2028, but the deal contains exit clauses and he admits that several aspects of modern F1 frustrate him.
"In karting, it wasn't that political. We just had fun, and it was about the racing," he said. "In Formula 1, it's not just about the driving. That was the case in the past, and it's gotten even worse now."
Verstappen admits social media is particularly frustrating.
"Everyone is sitting on the couch and has an opinion," he said. "It's a bit silly. They are better than us, they just don't have a car. That's how they see it. They can't do anything, but they know a lot. That's just annoying."
Verstappen is already looking ahead to his post-retirement life with excitement.
"Of course I have my contract," he said, "but I'm not going to continue until I'm 40. I also want to do other things, and I'm relaxed about that.
"I also want to do other kinds of racing, but we now have 24 grands prix a year, which is a lot. If you have the car for it, it's good to be able to win more titles, but when you look back, later in life, you don't want to say that you've raced for 40 years.
"I'm at the peak of my life now, and I don't want to think when I'm 60 about how I can be faster. At some point you become more relaxed.
"I also want to help young talents who don't have the chance to start their careers like I did."
Verstappen's other great passion is high-level online sim racing, with his team, Redline. "I want to find people worldwide and offer them the chance to drive, if they don't have the budget for it now," he admitted.
"I want to create an online world and offer them the chance to move to the real world. I want to invest time in that, and make sure it works. I can't stay in Formula 1 forever, so I want to make other projects successful."
Max's famous father Jos warns that his son is serious about looking forward to the future.
"I can tell that the number of races in Formula 1 is becoming too much for many drivers, Max included," Verstappen senior told his website. "He's always been very outspoken about it.
"I think eventually, it does take the fun out of it. When I started, there were only about 16 or 17 races. Now, there are 24, and you can feel it with everyone - mechanics included - who are always on the road.
"Max is away even more because he also has to do simulator work and sponsor commitments. You can't imagine how often he's away from home."
As for Max, he laughed at the idea that he could transition from racing in Formula 1 to commentating on the sport.
"Look, it's perfectly fine to have your own opinion, because I have one too," he said. "I don't always say it, because if I always give my own opinion, we can't broadcast it on television very often. That's why I should never become a commentator.
"That might be nice for me, but not for the rest. So I'll just go and drink gin and tonics."
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I very much like his way of looking at matters & general approach towards his future in racing.
He also made a valid point about social media, & while people who indeed have never (competitively) raced should be reserved with how they judge, including me, some things are still obvious enough for anyone to be able to assess how something could be or could've been done.
He's also been clear about his general stance towards the GP amounts for a while since they indeed also affect drivers in the long term, even if they're in a more luxurious position to mechanics & engineers in comparison.
I definitely can see Max leaving once his current contract stint ends, so after the 2028 season.
you missed out gamesmanship in his situation, the threat of the best driver in f1 quitting just ups the price a team need to pay to keep or secure his services by a few Million and he knows that
Max will never have to worry about his next meal. Between his lucrative contract with RB, wise investments, outside endeavors, endorsements, money is not the driving force in any of his decisions.
Only Max and Kelly will decide his future once his contract runs out if not before. I doubt money is a factor any more.He will be more concerned to not follow in his parents footsteps.
The best things F1 has brought him is Kelly and her daughter being part of a world championship winning team and considerable wealth in that order.
The main problem now is the people running F1! They give the teams and drivers no incentive to continue. FIA has become more and more autocratic and unreasonable in their demands. The seasons are getting longer and the demands on all the competitors are becoming unsustainable. Sadly, all the current administration is interested in is making more and more money, at the expense of the players.
I agree with what your saying but the new breed of team owners not all i agree are but I E vulture capitalists are in it for as much as they can get , if the rewards ie prize money goes up, which i believe it has quite considerably then they wont want a let up of things
Think about it - back when there were 16 races, the cars were still fast, but basically death-traps. Drivers traded paint all the time and sorted out their differences behind the wood-shed.
Nowaday's? It's all "microaggressions" and "He hit me ...", "He cut the corner..." "He exceeded the limits..." "He pushed me off...". And the regulatory burden the FIA imposes is retarded.
M'eh - I'm going to start watch the WRC instead.
Good for Max. F1 is more about the enterainment/revenue than the sport. Twenty-four races is way too much. Bad enough for the drivers who are generously compensated but the engineers and mechanics, that is a grueling schedule .Glad to see someone, who still appreciates having a personal life outside of just making as much money as possible. I wish him the best.
Nothing stays the same. Years ago it was about pure racing, now it is a lucrative business. Younger drivers with a different set of prospectives. May be less communication would lessen the amount of “whining” and complaining broadcasting to the general public. Safety is everything, but micromanaging is getting in the way. Tough to please everyone, but what is going on with the outrageous costs of tickets, too many nit picking penalties, and too much drama is diminishing this sport. I can see someone like Max saying what he is saying.
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