Verstappen admits limited patience for F1 career

Nov.19 (GMM) Poised to win his fourth consecutive world championship, Max Verstappen has warned his fans not to expect his career to last forever.

“I’m not going to do what Fernando (Alonso) did, I can assure you that,” the Red Bull driver told the Podpah podcast.

Indeed, like Alonso, 27-year-old Verstappen made his Formula 1 debut as a teenager. 23 years later, the now 43-year-old Alonso is still on the grid, and signed up with Aston Martin for at least two more seasons.

“For me, that’s just too much of a good thing,” Verstappen insists. “I love what I do, but I’ve already achieved what I wanted to achieve personally. Everything else is a bonus.

“When you win your eighth or ninth title, it’s just more of the same. You become world champion, and world champion, and world champion. Then your next title is not special.

“I’m not going to be around long enough to win ten or twelve world titles,” the Dutchman warned.

In fact, Verstappen is signed up with Red Bull through 2028, but the deal contains exit clauses and he admits that several aspects of modern F1 frustrate him.

“In karting, it wasn’t that political. We just had fun, and it was about the racing,” he said. “In Formula 1, it’s not just about the driving. That was the case in the past, and it’s gotten even worse now.”

Verstappen admits social media is particularly frustrating.

“Everyone is sitting on the couch and has an opinion,” he said. “It’s a bit silly. They are better than us, they just don’t have a car. That’s how they see it. They can’t do anything, but they know a lot. That’s just annoying.”

Verstappen is already looking ahead to his post-retirement life with excitement.

“Of course I have my contract,” he said, “but I’m not going to continue until I’m 40. I also want to do other things, and I’m relaxed about that.

“I also want to do other kinds of racing, but we now have 24 grands prix a year, which is a lot. If you have the car for it, it’s good to be able to win more titles, but when you look back, later in life, you don’t want to say that you’ve raced for 40 years.

“I’m at the peak of my life now, and I don’t want to think when I’m 60 about how I can be faster. At some point you become more relaxed.

“I also want to help young talents who don’t have the chance to start their careers like I did.”

Verstappen’s other great passion is high-level online sim racing, with his team, Redline. “I want to find people worldwide and offer them the chance to drive, if they don’t have the budget for it now,” he admitted.

“I want to create an online world and offer them the chance to move to the real world. I want to invest time in that, and make sure it works. I can’t stay in Formula 1 forever, so I want to make other projects successful.”

Max’s famous father Jos warns that his son is serious about looking forward to the future.

“I can tell that the number of races in Formula 1 is becoming too much for many drivers, Max included,” Verstappen senior told his website. “He’s always been very outspoken about it.

“I think eventually, it does take the fun out of it. When I started, there were only about 16 or 17 races. Now, there are 24, and you can feel it with everyone – mechanics included – who are always on the road.

“Max is away even more because he also has to do simulator work and sponsor commitments. You can’t imagine how often he’s away from home.”

As for Max, he laughed at the idea that he could transition from racing in Formula 1 to commentating on the sport.

“Look, it’s perfectly fine to have your own opinion, because I have one too,” he said. “I don’t always say it, because if I always give my own opinion, we can’t broadcast it on television very often. That’s why I should never become a commentator.

“That might be nice for me, but not for the rest. So I’ll just go and drink gin and tonics.”

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