Max Verstappen shares surprising update about F1 future and potential retirement

Max Verstappen has for the first time confessed that he's open to extending his F1 career into his mid- to late 30s, in what was a significant change of stance from the driver. The Dutch driver joined the sport in 2015 as a young teenager with Toro Rosso.

Verstappen was swiftly promoted to Red Bull in 2016, as he impressed everyone with his prodigious talent. During his first title fight in 2021, for the first time, he shared that he had no plans to continue racing for a long time into his mid- to late 30s. When he signed a contract extension with Red Bull that took the partnership to 2028, the Dutch driver claimed that the arrangement was going to be his last contract in the sport.

Since then, the driver has dabbled his hand in a lot of different racing series during off-weekends. In all of this, the driver has continued to maintain that he would not be a part of the sport for long.

In what appears to be a change of heart, the Dutch driver has claimed that if he was having fun and was happy, he didn't mind continuing to race even in his mid- to late 30s. He told the Athletic:

“People sometimes hang around maybe to create more money, but at the end of the day, that doesn’t come first. It’s important you’re here because of the hunger to win. Some people come here to just get the best out of their car because some don’t have a winning car."

He added:

"But that’s why I think: as long as I can do that, and I’m working with the people that I enjoy working with, then, yeah, we’ll drive. I don’t know when that will stop. Is that 32? Is that 35? 36? I don’t know. It’s impossible to know.”

Max Verstappen opens up on the struggles of being away from his family

Max Verstappen also touched on the challenges of racing in F1, as it means staying away from your family for long durations. The driver is now a father as well and admitted that these are some of the things that he wants to rectify one day. He said:

“I feel like I’m already missing out so much on just being with my family. I spend holidays with them, but I really miss the moments of just casually rocking up for a weekend or just hanging out on the couch, sitting together on a lazy day, or just after a normal work day. We live quite far apart now, (so) these kinds of moments are not possible with my life. I hope one day that it can go back to that.”

It should be noted, however, that Max Verstappen's interview was from the F1 Austrian GP, and hence it might not reflect his current state of mind, especially with Christian Horner fired from Red Bull.