Max Verstappen admits he ‘might’ quit F1 when Red Bull contract ends

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Max Verstappen has said that he “might stop” racing in Formula 1 at the conclusion of his long-term contract with Red Bull.

The 2021 world champion signed a new deal earlier this year that will keep him at the team through to the end of the 2028 F1 season.

The 24-year-old has spent his entire career with in the Red Bull set-up, entering the grid with Toro Rosso as a 17-year-old before stepping up to Christian Horner’s team for the fifth race of the 2016 season.

Though the Dutchman will be 31 when the contract comes to an end, Verstappen has now suggested that he is keen to pursue other opportunities in motorsport and may consider leaving F1, though admits he is not certain what the long-term future holds.

“I’m not planning on changing teams. I’m happy here and they are happy with me,” Verstappen said, according to the Daily Mail.

“But I haven’t made up my mind what I will do after 2028. I might stop.

“I have been in Formula 1 since I was 17. It’s been a long time. I’ve done a lot of seasons in F1.

“I may want to do different stuff. By 31, I don’t know whether I will have peaked or where the drop-off in performance may have occurred.

“I want to do other types of races — endurance racing, for example. Maybe I will have had enough of travelling all the time. Maybe I will want an easier life and just to do the races I like.

“Whenever an opportunity comes to win a championship, you want to take it. If I’m in a fight in 2028 it may be stupid to suddenly stop. It’s difficult to know.”

Verstappen remains top of the Drivers’ Championship standings after finishing third at the Monaco Grand Prix, one spot ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, his closest title rival.

The Red Bull driver secured his maiden world title last season after a controversial conclusion to the season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, pipping Lewis Hamilton to both race and overall victory.

It marked the end of a hard-fought battle for supremacy across a thrilling season that saw the pair clash at several points, but Verstappen insists he has been able to move on from his duel with the seven-time world champion and focus on his attempt to defend his crown.

“I wouldn’t say you forgive and forget, but as a driver you do forget,” Verstappen explained. “What happened in the past you forget and you focus on what’s ahead.

“We haven’t really talked about last year. It’s in the past.”