Max Verstappen clinched his second championship in a rather bizarre fashion. He joined the double world champions list, consisting of some elite names. While many predict the Dutch Lion to break much more records, Verstappen himself has reiterated his desire to retire from the sport early. However, Felipe Massa thinks otherwise.

Max Verstappen has been nothing but dominant this season. After a rocky start to the year, the Dutch driver has been in cruise control throughout the season. He comfortably crossed the checkered flag in Suzuka to claim his 12th win of the season and become the World champion for the second time.

Verstappen believes he will quit F1 sooner rather than later with his current £200m [$22om] deal expiring in 2028. However, Felipe Massa thinks Verstappen will continue racing for a long time.

The former Ferrari driver said, “It’s always easy to answer questions like this after you’ve won a title. But Max just loves racing. He’s really not going to stop when he’s 31 or 32. Of course it depends on whether the car is competitive and whether it can compete for the title.” (Translated from Google translate)

Felipe Massa also ditched Sebastian Vettel in the top-5 driver’s list of all time and included the Dutch Lion. Vettel is 3rd on the most wins list and a 4-time World Champion. Furthermore, he heaped pressure on the Red Bull driver and thinks he can easily be the greatest.

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Massa said, “I can say that Verstappen is in the top five of the best drivers of all time, but he can easily become number one. He has all the necessary talent just like Senna, Fangio, Schumacher and Hamilton.” 

Max Verstappen might retire sooner than expected

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen might follow in the footsteps of the former Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg by retiring early.

The Dutchman, after winning his second world title last week in Japan, said, “It can be a long time but at the end, I don’t see myself driving until I’m 40 because I want to also do other stuff.”

However, Verstappen also expressed that he is having fun racing right now and hinted that he will be completing his contract. He continued, “After that, it also depends a bit of how everything is going. I will probably try to do few different things of racing as well because it’s important also to try different things.”

It is hard to fathom that Max Verstappen is still only 25 years old and at the peak of his career. The Dutchman has serious potential to become of the greatest drivers of all time.

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Max Verstappen has already won 32 races and 2 championships so far. With Red Bull and Max both dominating the F1 grid, it’s hard to see why Verstappen would want to retire so early. Do you agree with Felipe Massa or do you think the Dutchman will hang his helmet early?