The world champion has made no secret of his dislike for sprint race events, and remarks he made on the topic at the Australian Grand Prix were interpreted by some as being a quit threat over them.
But ahead of the first F1 sprint weekend of the year in Baku, Verstappen has shed some light on his true thought process regarding his future in grand prix racing after his current contract runs out in 2028.
And rather than it just being elements like sprint races that will dictate what he does, he has made clear that what matters far more to him is the overall state of F1 and the demands that places on drivers.
Asked by Motorsport.com if he would really walk away from F1 because of sprint races, Verstappen said: “I think I always said that even if there won’t be any more sprint races, if we keep expanding the calendar and the whole weekend is that long, at one point you question yourself: is it worth it?
“I do like racing. I do like winning. I know that, of course, there is the salary and everything, and you have a good life. But is it actually a good life?
“I think sometimes you get to a point in your career where maybe you want to do other stuff. I have the contract until the end of 2028 and then we’ll review again, but I do feel that if it’s getting at one point too much, then it’s time for a change.”
He added: “This sounds very weird for people from the outside, because they’re like, ‘oh, you’re in Formula 1, you’re winning!’ And probably I would have said the same when I was in their position.
“But once you’re in it, it’s not always how it looks like or how people think your life is. I mean, yes, it’s great, it’s amazing and I can do a lot of things. I’m very independent. But there is always a limit to certain things.”
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, with his medal on the podium
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Verstappen said while he fully understood the business reasons for F1 pursuing ideas like sprint races, he was only interested in the purity of the racing – and he felt the spectacle did not benefit that much from them.
“Probably F1 looks at it from a business point of view,” he said. “I understand the sprint races, they probably add a bit more excitement, but then I look at it from the racing point of view.
“And I’m like, ‘well normally, when you then do the sprint races, lap one is exciting, a few shunts here and there, damage, blah, blah, blah, and safety car, a bit more…
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