Max Verstappen might quit Formula 1 sooner than people think. Speaking to Road & Track, the Dutchman discusses his desire to compete in 24-hour races and the desire for a calendar with fewer races.
Last week, Verstappen stepped into the Honda Acura ARX-06 for the first time. The fact that Verstappen stepped into Honda’s hypercar is no coincidence. Verstappen is a big fan of endurance racing and has never made a secret of wanting to one day compete in the classics at Daytona and Le Mans.
“I know I want to do it in the future anyway. It’s just finding the time, with such a busy F1 schedule it’s almost impossible because we finish so late in the season. To properly prepare before you head to Daytona, it’s pretty impossible. I know that when I want to do it, I want to go there and try to win it, be really competitive,” Verstappen said.
“The only way to do so is by doing some proper testing and getting really well prepared. Which is not possible at the moment, but who knows? Maybe in a few years time. I’ll still be young, young-ish, and I’ll still be able to drive the cars.”
When will Verstappen quit F1?
Max Verstappen is still the best man in Formula 1, but unlike Lewis Hamilton, he has no ambition to become world champion eight or nine times. Verstappen does not rule out an early departure from Formula 1. His contract at Red Bull Racing expires at the end of the 2028 Formula 1 season.
I’ll be thirty-one years old at the end of it. Of course that is still very young, but of course I started when I was seventeen. That’s a long time in Formula 1. For me, it also depends on how the new cars will be to drive from ’26 onwards. Are they enjoyable to drive? The amount of races, how much you’re away from home, it’s demanding. It doesn’t matter if you’re very successful or not, for me, that doesn’t matter. Of course, we’ve won already a lot in Formula 1. For me, it’s not that I have to stick around and try to prove myself,” he continued.
The move to the World Endurance Championship is the most obvious one. Although a 24-hour race is intense, Verstappen also states that fewer races are on that calendar, so you have more free time. Verstappen wants that freedom a bit later, but the focus is still on F1 for now.
