Verstappen Issues Update On Future Plans: 'If I Want To Go Elsewhere, I Will Go Elsewhere'

Thursday, 26 September 2024 at 21:00

Max Verstappen issued a clear update on his future plans amid many questions about the potential change of teams or retirement from Formula 1.

Probably more than any other driver on the grid, Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen has been vocal about not planning to stay in F1 for too long.

While he likes what he does now, the Dutchman has always had other plans, such as running his own racing team and competing in different series.

Verstappen keeps saying that he had already achieved everything he wanted to accomplish when he won his first title and that everything after that is just a bonus for him.

On top of everything, current trends in F1, like more race weekends, more sprint races, more street circuits, and less traditional ones, and penalties for swearing (all of which he doesn't agree with), keep pushing the triple World Champion closer to retiring.

So, where does he stand at the moment? Does the Red Bull driver plan to continue in F1 after his contract expires? Does he plan to join a different team? He told Sky Italy:

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"I am very relaxed. I just think about driving and trying to understand my problems and improve. Then I go home and live my life."

"I am quite relaxed about the future. For me, it's very simple: I like what I do, and as long as I enjoy it, I will stay here and continue driving in F1. If I want to go elsewhere, I will go elsewhere. But at the moment, it is not in my head."

If he plans to stay in F1 and Red Bull won't be competitive anymore, the Dutchman might want to join a different team. When asked directly whether some clause in his contract would allow him to leave Red Bull before his contract officially expires in 2028, Max Verstappen replied:

"Maybe yes or maybe no. Again, I don't think about that at the moment because there are so many things this year that I want to try to understand and do better than the years to come and what happens after that is still far away for me, so I don't have it in my head at the moment."