"I don't see myself driving until I'm 40"- Max Verstappen opens up about plans after F1 retirement

Max Verstappen recently revealed that we would not be racing in F1 when he's 40! The Red Bull driver was questioned in a post-race press conference about how he felt about winning at the age of 40. It's something Fernando Alonso is aspiring to do on the grid. To those suggestions, the Red Bull driver revealed that he did not plan to be in F1 when he becomes that age, as he said,

"I won’t be around. I don't see myself driving until I'm 40, in Formula 1 at least. I want to also do other things. But I still have a few more years in Formula 1 for sure."

Max Verstappen is 24 years old and on the verge of becoming a 2-time world champion. Having said that, there are drivers on the grid like Lewis Hamilton (almost 40 years of age) and Fernando Alonso that are racing late into their 30s and beyond.

The difference though between those drivers and Verstappen is that the Red Bull driver made his debut in the sport as a teenager. If he races in F1 at the age of 40, he will be apart of the sport for 23-24 years, which is a bit of a stretch for anyone.

Moving on from Belgium, the Red Bull driver was questioned about what his preparations were for his home race in a few days time to which he revealed that,

"To be honest, I already prepared Zandvoort. I am of course enjoying today but then I go home and I don't really think about F1 too much. And then I jump on the plane on Thursday morning, I think, and then I'll think about Zandvoort, and then I'll drive Zandvoort and try to do the best I can."

Max Verstappen's view on learning from last season

Max Verstappen's approach has been seen as an evolution from the 2021 season as he is more measured now on the early laps of the race. The Red Bull driver was questioned about what he thought the reason was behind this change to which he revealed:

"I think every year you gain experience – but I think you cannot compare years. The cars are completely different, to drive, to race. So yeah, I do think also at this stage of the year, we are a lot more competitive than we were last year. So then naturally, I think that helps a lot in terms of getting the race wins."

Max Verstappen further added that,

"You know, last year I think around this time, Mercedes was stronger. Of course, we still had a few wins around this time, but I think they were not always on pure pace of the car we had, but as a team we always executed things well. And, like I said you cannot compare the years."

Max Verstappen currently leads the championship by 98 points from Charles Leclerc. It's hard to see anyone but the Red Bull driver winning the title from this point.