F1 News: Max Verstappen Threatens Early Retirement if Formula 1 Doesn’t Reduce the Number of Races

The news around the paddocks is that Max Verstappen has no plans to renew his contract as of now. With his contract with Red Bull ending in 2028, he has publically mentioned on several occasions that as of now he has no plans of renewing his contract.

But why would Mad Max want to retire so soon? There are many reasons why the reigning champion might want to consider retiring soon, and while it seems like he wants to quit while he’s ahead, there are more underlying problems with the F1 system according to him. Notably, the biggest one of them is the way the 2024 Formula One calendar is planned.

It’s just too many races according to Max Verstappen

The thing that Max Verstappen has been vocal about during a press conference was the number of races in the F1 calendar. Although the season time is extremely fun for fans, the drivers and teams are under constant pressure for the better half of the year. With 24 races to take place in 2024, the Dutch driver believes it to be too much. MotorSport reported that, when asked if he would consider staying in F1 for longer than 2028 if the number of races was reduced, he responded “Absolutely.”

He explained, “That has to do with the quality of life in general. At a certain point, I think you’re just done with it a bit.” The 26-year-old driver is focused on maintaining a good quality of life. F1 takes a huge toll on a driver’s mental and physical health. Being under constant pressure for 9 months of a year seems fun but must be exhausting.

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The Red Bull driver then broke down all the events that transpire before the race and said, “The racing itself is fun, but everything around it with the traveling and with the marketing days, at a At some point it eats at you. Then it doesn’t matter what you earn. Ultimately, it’s more about being happy with what you do.” But beyond that, unlike other reigning world champions, Max Verstappen has revealed his goals for his career.

Verstappen not aiming for the world championships

The reigning World Champion spoke about what his take on being an F1 driver is like. He mentions his rule of giving 100 percent when awake and his desire to win every race he takes part in. But contrary to common beliefs, he is not interested in competing with Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher for the most amount of titles.

Considering Verstappens’ performance last season, it looks like he is in form and currently enjoying the peak of his career. But nothing lasts forever and there will come a time when he will not compete for the world champion title. He shocked the world when he announced, “I don’t have that ‘I have to stay here until I am eight times world champion’. I don’t have that. I have a lot of things that I am working on for the future, outside of Formula 1.”

This has fans curious as to what Max Verstappen might be planning after his racing career. Knowing the driver’s influence on his fans, it would be easy for him to start up something that will gain traction, but the looming question remains. Will Max Verstappen be happy outside Formula One? That’s a question only he would know the answer to.

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