“No Longer the Hunger to Try and Win…”: Max Verstappen Leaves Red Bull Shaking in Their Shoes After Startling Confession

F1 witnesses a change of guard from time to time. The crop of elite drivers changes, and newer race winners emerge. Michael Schumacher did it with Benetton back in the 90s. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso did it with McLaren and Renault, respectively, in the 2000s. Now, Red Bull has led this change in the last 2 years with the Dutch Lion winning and dominating races. However, Max Verstappen believes that these wins and 2 world titles have not changed his life much. He made a startling confession about his winning streak in F1 going ahead in the future.

Talking to Motorsport.com, Verstappen opened up about how he doesn’t feel winning more F1 championships will change anything in his life. As per the Turkish edition of Motorsport.com, Max stated, “I’m just enjoying the moment. Last year [in 2021] I was enjoying the moment as well, but there’s no longer the hunger to try and win a championship every chance you get.” [translated via Google]

“I’ve said it before, all the achievements after the first championship are just a bonus, it doesn’t change my life.” Red Bull might be shaking in their shoes after listening to Max’s statement. Though, they would love to motivate him enough to get as many of those “bonus” world titles as he can.

Whether the Dutchman wishes to win more championships, he certainly does. Verstappen added, “Of course I do, I’ve already won two [championships], but I don’t mind if I don’t have a chance to win again because of the car factor.”

So, Max won’t be bothered as much if Red Bull fails to deliver a fast car for a title challenge in the future. Still, they would not want such a scenario to arise.

Read More: Max Verstappen’s Prolonged Dominance Questioned by a Simple Statement ”How Long Does…”

It may be a hard pill to swallow that Max doesn’t want to win more championships. After all, his do-or-die approach in the latter half of 2022 showed how much he is committed to winning every race with Red Bull. Nonetheless, the Dutchman has stated how he may retire before he hits his mid-30s.

Will Max Verstappen really look to retire early and not Focus on Winning Record F1 titles?

The early retirement call from Max Verstappen will depend on several aspects. He may deny any looking for greater benchmarks of success, but deep down, Max may want to achieve some amount of wins and titles before heading into the sunset.

Already having won 2 titles, Verstappen is halfway up the mark to his fellow Red Bull champion Sebastian Vettel‘s 4 world titles. So this may be one of the milestones he would love to beat by becoming a 5-time champion. But if he doesn’t win a 5th title like Vettel by 30, won’t Max stay on and chase that title?

It is a very subjective thing to predict. Few may anticipate how many championships Verstappen can win in the next 5 to 6 years. Still, Max may also have the 7-world-title record in mind, if he can actually get on a domination streak like Michael Schumacher or Lewis Hamilton.

On the other hand, it will be interesting to see if Max’s peers Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, and George Russell will let him dominate this era of F1. It will be exciting to watch either of these drivers as the Dutchman’s prime challenger.

WATCH THIS STORY: Top 5 wins of Max Verstappen’s F1 career

Overall, Max’s early retirement depends on what he feels in the future as well as his competition. If he changes his mind amidst the probable fierce competition, he will want to win more. Do you think Verstappen wouldn’t focus on setting the record of winning the most championships?