ZANDVOORT, Netherlands (AP) — Max Verstappen makes it clear he doesn’t want to retire as he approaches his 200th Formula One race…
ZANDVOORT, Netherlands (AP) — Max Verstappen has made it clear he doesn’t want to remain in the 400 number range as he approaches his 200th Formula One race.
Verstappen is the youngest F1 driver to reach the 200-race milestone, aged 26, and will achieve the feat in front of his home crowd at Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix.
“No,” Verstappen said emphatically on Thursday when asked if he could see 200 more F1 races – the equivalent of just over eight more seasons – in his future.
“Obviously we’re half way through it but of course it’s been a great run already,” he added. “It doesn’t feel like 200 races but of course now we’re doing a lot more races in a year so it adds up really quickly.”
No driver has yet reached 400 races in F1, but Aston Martin’s 43-year-old Fernando Alonso will mark his 395th race weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Three-time champion Verstappen is under contract with Red Bull until 2028 and has no plans to retire anytime soon, but he is unlikely to follow the example of Lewis Hamilton, who turns 40 next year, moved from Mercedes to Ferrari and will race in his 347th race on Sunday.
One factor that could influence Verstappen’s final decision is the details of the new F1 rules coming into force in 2026.
“Obviously, ’28 is still a long way away,” he said. “I’m not thinking about a new contract at the moment. I just want to see what happens, see the new rules first and see if it’s fun. And even ’26, ’27 there’s plenty of time to decide what happens, so I’m keeping everything open. But yeah, I’m pretty relaxed about it.”
Verstappen has been competing in F1 since making his debut for Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso in 2015 at the record age of 17. An avid online racer, Verstappen said he would be interested in trying other real-life racing series, as long as they were less demanding than F1’s record 24-race schedule.
“When I retire from F1, I want to do a bit more of something else,” he said. “Relax, race less overall, but by relaxing I mean a bit more time at home. If I do compete in something, of course I want to be good and I want to win, but we’ll see what opportunities come my way.”
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