At the peak of his career, Max Verstappen, or Mad Max as he is known, has threatened to quit the F1 racing sport.
Max Verstappen is one of the world’s best Formula 1 racing drivers who competes under the Dutch flag. Having been crowned as the F1 World Champion in 2021, 2022, and 2023, Verstappen is currently at the prime of his Formula 1 career.
All this success at just 26 years of age puts Verstappen in a position of power, especially when it comes to deciding his own future with the sport. Recently, the Formula 1 champion put across a message to his bosses, which comes off as a thinly veiled threat surrounding his retirement. With the 2023 season coming to an end, Max sent out a warning message to the F1 hierarchy about his future in the sport. This is what happened.
The retirement threat
Max Verstappen, who is passionate about Formula 1, is not willing to lose any focus on the ‘show’ as he calls it. His warning urges the F1 bosses to prioritize the sport, rather than the show. This is the key factor that will determine his continuation with Formula 1, says the Dutch prodigy.
Verstappen, who is also known as Mad Max is currently dominating the tracks which is turning into a big problem that F1 is facing. And Verstappen’s unhappiness with the show could lead to bigger trouble. In fact, Verstappen has been quite vocal about his wish to create a racing legacy in other categories, so it looks like he has a backup plan in place. Speaking to TIME Magazine, Verstappen said the following while addressing the retirement rumors.
“Would I like to win seven? Yeah, why not?… But even if I don’t win seven, I know that there’s still so many more things in life than F1. I’m already very happy with what I have achieved.”
Verstappen’s track record
From starting his career way back in 2015 to competing with Michael Schumacher’s son Mick, who left Ferrari last year, Verstappen has been consistently in form the whole time. Verstappen’s track record is nothing short of impressive, with three world championships, 17 Grand Prix victories, and countless records set and broken.
In fact, he has created such a name for himself that Michael Schumacher himself has a great bond with Verstappen, where the latter calls him ‘uncle’.
Verstappen’s unhappiness with the system
Verstappen is visibly unhappy with the way things are and the direction F1 is heading towards. Both the on-track and off-track management is something that irks the young racer. As per The Express, he vehemently opposes the continuation of the sprint race experiment, claiming that it dilutes the race weekends. This has led to him wanting to leave F1, if things continue this way. This, combined with his dominance on the track that has led to some booing and unhappiness from the fans’ side, does not sit well with the Dutch champion.
In a conversation with TIME Magazine, the following is what Verstappen said about his current state of mind regarding F1.
“I would just keep in mind that the actual sport comes first, instead of the show…That, for me, is very important, and that eventually will also decide if I stay or not.”
It also looks like all the travel and shutting from hotel room to hotel room has left its impact on Verstappen. He said the following about his quality of life as a Formula 1 driver.
“At one point you have to outweigh the success against just general quality of life. “I feel like I’m living out of a bag, out of a hotel, all the time. At the moment that’s fine. I love driving. I love winning. But the older you get, maybe one day that’s not anymore what I want.”
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