Max Verstappen has hinted at retirement several times over the years, but the frequency of these remarks seems to be increasing. For the nth time, he has stated that he won’t be competing in F1 for too long, having achieved everything he has ever dreamed of.
Records do not matter to Verstappen, which is why he won’t be chasing new heights, something he reiterated on the Podpah podcast. “I’m not going to be around long enough to win ten or twelve world titles,” he said.
Verstappen would rather “do other things”, which would most likely involve some venture in racing unless he has a hidden interest away from the world of motorsports.
Sergio Perez, who was present alongside Verstappen on the podcast, insisted that his teammate would carry on beyond the 2028 season — the year his contract with Red Bull expires. Perez told Verstappen that Fernando Alonso too, shared a similar outlook about his future when he was 27. Today, he is 43 and still hungry for more.
“I’m not going to do what Fernando did, I can assure you that,” Verstappen responded. “For me, that’s just too much of a good thing. 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“.
Verstappen has won three World Titles, and going by his comments, he is used to victories by now. So why does he still race so aggressively, sometimes even crossing the line? Verstappen has an answer: “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 forty years.”
Verstappen wants time to relax
While Verstappen has made it clear that he will not change his style of driving just because critics find it aggressive, there will come a time in life when he feels stressed with on-track action. That is when he hopes to “become more relaxed”.
Per him, life isn’t all about winning. He also wants to, “help young talents, who don’t have the chance to start their careers like I did. I want to offer opportunities to others in the racing world“.
That’s perhaps why he previously expressed his desire to start his own GT3 team, which he would use as a platform to help those from non-rich backgrounds get into motorsports, avoiding the traditional but uber-expensive karting route.
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It’s not ‘all talk no play’ from Verstappen either. He already has drivers from different countries in his sim racing team. “We also have a Brazilian, and he’s an incredible guy,” the 27-year-old revealed.
Verstappen is talking about Gustavo Ariel, who like Verstappen drives for Team Redline, who competes in prestigious virtual sim-racing events worthwhile.
