Max Verstappen has a contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028 – and can well imagine hanging up his Formula One career after that …
Max Verstappen, 24, can imagine ending his career after his Red Bull contract expires at the end of the 2028 season: “The plan is to stay here until 2028. I don’t plan to change teams. I am happy here and they are happy with me. But I haven’t thought about what comes after 2028 yet.”,
“Maybe I will stop,” said the 2021 world champion, who would then be 31. “I’ve been in Formula One since I was 17. That’s a long time. I’ve had a lot of seasons. Maybe I want to do something else at some point. And I don’t know if I’ll still be at my best when I’m 31 or if my performance will start to degrade by then.”
Verstappen made his Formula 1 debut as a Friday driver at Toro Rosso in 2014. He was promoted to a regular driver there in 2015 and then switched to Red Bull for the Spanish Grand Prix in 2016. There he won his very first race in Barcelona.
Formula 1 is and remains the centre
“I also want to drive other races. Long distance, for example,” he says. “Maybe at some point all the travelling will be too much for me. Maybe at some point I want to take it easy and only do the races I really want to do.”
For the time being, however, such thoughts are not acute for him. For now, he plans to win a World Championship title or two in Formula 1: “Whenever there’s a chance to win a championship, of course you want to take it. If I can still win titles in 2028, maybe I’d be stupid to just stop. It’s hard to say today. “
A race like the Indianapolis 500 miles, won last Sunday by former Formula One driver Marcus Ericsson, doesn’t excite Verstappen. Neither does the “Triple Crown”, which Fernando Alonso had temporarily set as his career goal.
Verstappen: Why the Indy 500 is not an issue
“I don’t feel the desire for the ‘Triple Crown’. At least not for IndyCar,” Verstappen clarifies. “I admire what they do. These drivers are crazy. I have a lot of respect for it, but after such a long time in Formula 1, I don’t think I need to risk my life there or maybe get seriously injured. It’s not worth it.”
It’s a different story at Le Mans: “I like endurance races. Hopefully one day I will drive some. But for me, the priority is to do well in Formula One. I’m not interested in the ‘Triple Crown’. “
