Max Verstappen’s F1 Career Might Be Over Sooner Than You Think

It seems Max Verstappen will hit 12 years with Red Bull Racing and call it quits. After just announcing a contract extension with the team, Verstappen began hinting at the end of his career.

With the extension, Verstappen is in a deal with Red Bull until 2028 that is reportedly worth around $53 million dollars, per ESPN. The contract extension comes as no surprise to F1 fans, though. After winning the 2021 championship, Verstappen has said he planned to continue working with Red Bull throughout the rest of his career. And that statement might continue to ring true, as Verstappen hinted at ending his career following the expiration of his contract in 2028.

“I am not planning on changing teams. I am happy here and they are happy with me. But I have not made up my mind what I will do after 2028. I might stop,” the Dutch racer told the Daily Mail. “I have been in Formula 1 since I was 17. It has been a long time. I have done a lot of seasons in F1. I may want to do different stuff … I don’t know whether I will have peaked or where the drop-off in performance may have occurred,” he said. But while the news of an early retirement from Formula 1 was a shock for Verstappen fans, the race car driver did hint that if he were to retire, he wouldn’t leave the racing world altogether.