{"id":865058,"date":"2026-08-20T14:04:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T14:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/865058\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T14:04:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T14:04:19","slug":"max-verstappen-reveals-how-close-he-was-to-f1-retirement-before-red-bull-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/865058\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen reveals how \u2018close\u2019 he was to F1 retirement before Red Bull extension"},"content":{"rendered":"

Max Verstappen<\/a> has admitted he was “closer to retiring than changing teams” as he explained why he has committed to Red Bull<\/a> and Formula 1 until 2030.<\/p>\n

The four-time F1<\/a> world champion has penned a four-year extension<\/a> to his contract with improved terms, despite a difficult start to the 2026 campaign which sees him winless and lying sixth in the drivers’ standings.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old was heavily linked with McLaren and Mercedes but also hinted at retiring from the sport after 12 consecutive seasons, given his dissatisfaction with the much-criticised new generation of cars \u2013 which Verstappen had previously described as “anti-racing.”<\/p>\n

Yet before his home race, the Dutch Grand Prix<\/a> at Zandvoort this weekend, Verstappen announced his commitment to Red Bull for the long-term \u2013 and admitted he had his eye on finishing his F1 career with the Milton Keynes-based team.<\/p>\n

“I was closer to retiring than changing teams,” Verstappen said at a Red Bull press conference in Zandvoort on Thursday.<\/p>\n

“I like it here. I think it would be a great story if that were possible, being picked up by Red Bull and finishing your career with one team.<\/p>\n

“I don’t feel the need to change just to change, and I don’t need to drive in another colour. My favourite colour is blue, so that helps. But it would be an amazing story if that would happen.”<\/p>\n

F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali<\/a> stated he had held talks with Verstappen over the 2026 regulations, given the much-maligned focus on energy management.<\/p>\n

“I have to say, after the first few races, I said to Laurent, ‘Don’t come to me with any kind of questions about the future because I didn’t even know if I want to stay'”, Verstappen added.<\/p>\n

\"Verstappen<\/p>\n

Verstappen has signed an extension until 2030 (pictured with Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies) (Getty)<\/p>\n

“But honestly, we always kept it very open. I love racing, and I had a lot of very good discussions with F1, but also with the FIA.<\/p>\n

“We are slowly working towards something that becomes better and better. Also, from my side, I adapted. I accepted the situation that we’re all in, and just trying to make the best of that.<\/p>\n

“With the year that I signed to, it again opens up the door, maybe you know when potentially the V8s come in to look at that again as well.”<\/p>\n

Verstappen is looking to become a four-time winner at his home race this weekend in the final iteration of the Dutch Grand Prix, which falls off the calendar next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen has admitted he was “closer to retiring than changing teams” as he explained why he has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":865059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,33614,578,576,577,11753,1885,1882,82],"class_list":["post-865058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-dutch-grand-prix","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-laurent-mekies","tag-max-verstappen","tag-red-bull","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865058","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=865058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}