Max Verstappen drops retirement bombshell with 'no desire' to emulate Lewis Hamilton
Max Verstappen has dropped a retirement bombshell ahead of this weekend's Italian Grand Prix
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Max Verstappen has revealed he has 'no desire' to race into his 40s like Lewis Hamilton.
And the Red Bull star has also revealed he already knows what he wants to do once his Formula One career comes to an end.
The 25-year-old is the man to beat in F1 these days, having won 11 races out of 13 to pick up a massive 339 points.
Verstappen is hoping to secure yet another podium at this weekend's Italian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen has no desire to emulate F1 star Lewis Hamilton
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Yet in an interview with Racefans.net, Verstappen has now revealed he won't be racing in his 40s with retirement already on his mind.
“No, absolutely no,” he said. "No desire."
He added: “No, I have my mind already set on what I want to do also outside of Formula 1.
“It’s a big passion of mine and I want to make that happen as well.”
It's a surprising bombshell from Verstappen, especially given he's contracted to Red Bull until 2028.
The threat of Hamilton isn't going away any time soon, either, with the Mercedes star recently penning a new contract.
Verstappen insists he's never threatened to leave F1, despite voicing his unhappiness over issues such as the growing schedule and travel stress that brings.
He continued: “Honestly, it’s not really a threat [to leave F1], it’s just how I see my life.
“I’ve been racing since I was four years old and at one point, enough is enough.
"For me, it’s not about winning seven, eight titles, nine titles. Once you’ve won it, it’s always the same thing at the end of the day.
“I have a lot of plans outside of Formula 1 already.
"It’s not like F1 is my life, this is the only thing that I do.
"And that’s why I think I can easily do other stuff as well while not travelling that much at one point. Because at one point it’s enough.”
Verstappen proceeds to say that he'd find it hard to walk away from Red Bull if they keep winning - but does believe the growing schedule is an issue.
“I already don’t enjoy travelling like, how we are doing it,” he stated.
“So of course it [would be] very hard to walk away from a winning team.
"I know I have a contract anyway until 2028. But after that, I’m 31, I maybe want to do other things.
"I know that at 31 I can still be very competitive, but it’s not about that because at one point it’s enough and you just want to do other stuff.”
Verstappen won the Italian Grand Prix last year.
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F1 star Max Verstappen has won 11 out of 13 races so far this season with Red Bull
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The Red Bull star will be hoping for similar success this time around as he looks to win the F1 Drivers' Championship for a third year in a row.
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