Max Verstappen‘s retirement from F1 is a topic that’s been brought up over and over again. The Dutchman doesn’t seem himself sticking around in F1 as long as the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Having won three championships already and having a Red Bull contract until 2028, Verstappen reveals what awaits him on the other side of F1.
“I want to do other kinds of racing. I want to do endurance racing and have fun there”, said Verstappen as he talked about his racing plans in other categories. Explaining how he’d like to help bring forward youngsters, he added, “I want to create my own team and help guide young talent. Ideally also from the sim racing world because racing is a very expensive sport and not everyone gets the opportunity to start racing in Go Karts.”
what max still wants to achieve in motorsports pic.twitter.com/0O1ix5tNao
— sam¹ ✨ @ barcelona (@unleashthemax) June 22, 2024
Verstappen has already shown interest in LeMans. The Dutchman revealed how Fernando Alonso has spoken to him about possibly racing together in the LeMans. Verstappen also has a keen interest in the GT3 racing category. The 26-year-old can often be found racing the GT3 category on iRacing.
The Dutchman already has his own sim racing team called Team Redline. Verstappen is really passionate about sim racing as he took part in an endurance sim race during the Imola GP weekend. He plans to develop Team Redline and help young talent from sim racing to make it into the real world.
Verstappen was finishing the race a postcode ahead of the competition. When asked if he gets bored of racing by himself, the 26-year-old replied that he enjoys it. Just goes on to show the true racer that he is. All he needs is a good enough car and a race track.
Former F1 driver on Max Verstappen’s commitment to F1
Fernando Alonso, just like Verstappen, is a hardcore racer at heart. Even during the off-season, the Spaniard can be spotted on the track with his academy, racing with or teaching youngsters. Alonso is already 42 years old and is still performing like he’s in his prime. The Spaniard will definitely race until his body is no longer able to sustain the loads of F1.
Max Verstappen is only 26 years old. If he were to race as long as Alonso, he’d have 15-plus years in his career. However former F1 driver Mark Blundell doubts it as he questions Verstappen’s commitment to F1. Blundell believes that the Dutchman will one day decide that he’s done and will just walk away from the sport.
“I think Max is an interesting character. He’s one of those guys that you could very easily see him go and do something and actually just walk away from it and that would be the end of that. I don’t kind of see him at the moment being one of these guys [who] is going to stay in for the rest of his days”, said Blundell according to PlanetF1.
When the FIA increased the sprint races and changed its format, Verstappen threatened to retire from the sport. Even David Croft advised on how Verstappen can retire from F1 even before the end of his current Red Bull contract.
