Why Max Verstappen's threats of an early retirement are legitimate

F1 Grand Prix Of Singapore - Qualifying - Source: Getty
F1 Grand Prix Of Singapore - Qualifying - Source: Getty

Max Verstappen's future is something that has often been under the scanner thanks to his vocal criticism of the direction that the sport has taken. The Red Bull driver has admitted that the toll that the sport takes on him is a lot and has hinted many times that when this becomes more than what he can take, he would consider stepping away.

Throughout F1, however, there have been drivers in the past as well who have said something similar. There was a time when Lewis Hamilton made the comments that he certainly won't be around for long.

Fernando Alonso, another driver who is racing deep into his 40s, had often said that retiring early was something on his mind. Looking back, neither of the two have left. However, when Max Verstappen says that he could be looking at a premature retirement, one should take him seriously. Here's why.

He's already raced for a decade

What many people forget when they look at Max Verstappen's age is the fact that the driver has already been around for a decade. This is his 10th year in F1 already after joining the sport in 2015.

He's raced for Red Bull for nine years now and that has been a very successful stint. At the same time, though, with the increase in the number of races, it has become very stressful as well.

Just for reference, Sebastian Vettel, who retired in 2022, had 16 years in the sport. Verstappen is already in his 10th, and unlike Vettel, who had this yearning to win with Ferrari and a goal that stretched his career, Verstappen doesn't.


He's already achieved more than most

It's astounding if we look at the records that Max Verstappen has already amassed. The driver is third in the number of wins, only behind Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton. He's also rising rapidly in the number of pole positions and other key stats.

He was always vocal when it came to F1 as he said that his goal was always to win one title. Once that was done, everything else was a bonus. In terms of success, in a decade-long career, the Dutch driver has already surpassed a lot of drivers already.


Max Verstappen has interests outside of the sport

Max Verstappen is not someone who only loves F1. The Red Bull driver has interests outside of the sport as well. The driver has often talked about competing in LeMans. He's talked about racing in the Endurance series and finds the more relaxed calendar of the series appealing as well.

At some point, he would want to pursue those interests as well, and doing that alongside F1 is probably not going to be easy for the driver.


The F1 calendar has become more and more stressful

We have 24 races this season. To add to this, there are already multiple sprint races this season. In terms of density, this is the most packed calendar we've had in the sport for a while.

Drivers have complained about it and so have the teams to an extent but in the end, everyone has to get on with the job. With that being said, the 24-race calendar is only looking at expansion in the coming years. Liberty Media is all about maximizing every income source, and hence there would be more sprints and more races added to the calendar.

Max Verstappen has been complaining about the number of races for some time now, and something like this has been a big pet peeve of his. The driver has said that something like this could trigger his departure from the sport, and it won't come as a surprise if that departure is in the form of a premature retirement.


The FIA's intrusion into driver behaviour attacks authenticity

Max Verstappen faced the ire of the stewards when he was given a community service of sorts for using inappropriate language in the press conference. The Red Bull driver was furious, and rightly so, as he pointed out how the whole thing takes away from driver authenticity.

Max is not a fan of the media duties that have become synonymous with the pre-race engagements, and when he can't even be himself, he'll have to think long and hard about whether he wants to keep continuing to get censored by the FIA and the sport.

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Edited by Ankush Das
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