Max Verstappen has often given retirement scares to his fans by claiming he won’t stick around for a long time as he wants to do other things. And now, Mark Hughes, who will soon release the biography on the Red Bull star, claims he won’t even see the end of his contract and will leave around $180,000,000 to get away from the annoyance he considers within Formula 1.
Since Verstappen took motorsports, F1 has changed a lot. And the Dutch race driver isn’t pleased with all the reforms around him, and according to Hughes, he is ‘done’ with all the fiasco.
So much so that he isn’t even willing to go for the record number of world championships, beating Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, provided he can contest for the championship till the end of his contract with Red Bull.
Max Verstappen won’t see the end of his contract
According to Hughes, Verstappen is an ‘old school’ and doesn’t enjoy the current process. And with everything coming across that he doesn’t like, takes away a bit more energy from him.
“If I had to speculate and guess, I think he will run till the end of this formula, to the end of 2025. I don’t think the 8th World title will be a thing. Winning the title was all targeted. I don’t believe he will go till the end of his contract. It’s too long,” said Hughes in the Race F1 podcast.
Hughes further believes that Verstappen is too dissatisfied to remain till 2028. Thus, he could leave away with approximately $180,000,000, as he is earning $60,000,000 every year under the current agreement.
He has too much money
Currently, Verstappen is riding high in F1. The whole motorsport world is at his feet, and the ongoing regulations make Red Bull the strongest outfit. So, it’s likely that he would bow out of the competition once that dominant phase is over.
The new engine regulations could possibly displace Red Bull from the top, as they won’t have the incredible services of Honda at their side and are partnering with Ford, who has been out of F1 for almost two decades, to make their own engine. Verstappen is already displeased with the level of battery dependency on the new unit, and claims team with the strongest engine would dominate.
Therefore, adding all the reasons, Verstappen could go out before 2026. But Hughes believes Verstappen won’t be bothered with the fortune he would have to lose, as he has already earned enough.
