{"id":569750,"date":"2026-03-30T01:22:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T01:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/569750\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T01:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T01:22:10","slug":"max-verstappen-is-considering-retiring-from-f1-at-end-of-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/569750\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen Is Considering Retiring From F1 at End of 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"article-paragraph skip\">The biggest car news and reviews, no BS<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph skip\">Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"pw-incontent-excluded article-paragraph skip\">Four-time <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/category\/f1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Formula 1<\/a> World Champion <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/news\/max-verstappen-has-no-desire-to-win-eight-or-nine-f1-titles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Max Verstappen<\/a> dropped a big hint about what his not-so-distant future may look like, given the current state of F1 racing. During this weekend\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/news\/japenese-f1-fans-are-on-another-level\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Japanese Grand Prix<\/a>, he told the media that he was \u201cnot enjoying the whole formula.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph skip\">When asked by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/formula1\/articles\/cx2695dkjzdo\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">BBC Sport<\/a> if that meant he was \u201cgoing to walk away at the end of the season,\u201d Verstappen responded with: \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019m saying. I\u2019m thinking about everything inside this paddock.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph skip\">This comes as a big shock, as Verstappen is still in his prime and is arguably one of the best, if not the best, active F1 drivers. And while he previously told me during a 2024 interview that he has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/news\/max-verstappen-has-no-desire-to-win-eight-or-nine-f1-titles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">\u201cno interest in winning eight or nine world championships\u201d<\/a>\u2014and that he\u2019d rather do endurance racing later on\u2014he\u2019s never actually shared a timeline for when he might drop out of F1.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2268415794.jpg\" alt=\"Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen of Oracle Red Bull Racing competes during the Formula 1 Japan Suzuka race at the Suzuka Formula 1 circuit in Suzuka, Japan, on March 29, 2025. (Photo by Marcel van Dorst\/EYE4IMAGES\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)\" class=\"wp-image-6606674\"  \/>NurPhoto via Getty <\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph skip\">The fact that BBC Sport specified \u201cend of the [\u201926] season\u201d in its question to Verstappen, and that he did not refute it, is a big deal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph skip\">Verstappen, who is managed by two mastermind influencers (not the social media kind), Raymond Vermulen and father Jos, is likely dropping these bits to the media as a way to put pressure on F1, the FIA, and all the teams to amend the 2026 rules. Or, at the very least, come to a sort of consensus to get rid of the \u201cMario Kart mushroom effect,\u201d as Verstappen and others have come to call the battery harvesting procedures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph skip\">F1 would lose a lot of marketability and clout without Verstappen, and the F1 champ knows it. Just like he knows he could take his millions of fans to another series, as well as their wallets and eyeballs (ticket\/merch sales, and TV ratings).<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph skip\">Verstappen is the kind of guy who likes to have fun, enjoy life, enjoy his family, and enjoy all the money he\u2019s earned. No one should ever take him or any \u201cthreat\u201d of his lightly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph skip\">Got a tip? Email us at tips@thedrive.com<\/p>\n<p>As deputy editor, Jerry draws on a decade of industry experience and a lifelong passion for motorsports to guide The Drive\u2019s short- and long-term coverage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":["post-569750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}