Despite having one of the longest contracts in F1 and rumors about multiple teams wanting to secure his services, Max Verstappen has stayed firm on looking to retire early from the sport. The Dutchman also has clarity about what he wishes to do after he concludes his career at the top.
While Verstappen has a bucket list of exploring other categories like rallying and endurance racing, he also won’t mind taking up a management role to understand the other side of the table.
The 27-year-old, whose contract with Red Bull expires at the end of the 2028 season, is a hardcore racer. However, he also wants to enable young talents to come through and provide them with an opportunity to build a career in motorsport.
“I always said to myself if I wouldn’t be a full-on racing driver myself, I will always try to stay in racing but then in a bit more of a management role. So I guess at one point, I will be taking on a bit of a role like that,” he said in a conversation on the Track Limits podcast.
But how would that pan out? It is quite unlikely that the Red Bull driver would want to stay in the F1 paddock if he is going to retire from F1.
So, a team principal or any similar role at another F1 team seems like a rather questionable possibility for Verstappen. But his association with the sim-racing Team Redline could come in handy. Verstappen has stated previously that he would be looking to establish a racing team under his own venture Verstappen.com for which he will take help from Team Redline.
While this will be a real-life racing team, looking to compete in GT racing and endurance championships, Verstappen is also aiming to integrate sim-racing as a stepping stone for young drivers to develop themselves. He feels that the traditional route of karting and junior formula racing can be quite expensive for many drivers trying to enter F1.
Besides, Verstappen also wants to develop racers with holistic talents who are capable of competing in any discipline of their choice and not just F1. So, this could be the first venture where Verstappen could take up this managerial role and pass on his pearls of wisdom and experience as a multiple-time F1 world champion.
