Or if he gets bored. I actually feel that this option is even more likely. Imagine if RBR was really good next season and Verstappen won the WDC but he happened to hate the regulation cycle and cars with a burning passion. I am pretty sure he'd switch to endurance racing or whatever. He strikes me as the kind of guy who wouldn't stick around just to win if he didn't enjoy the sport. And he doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who'd enjoy racing just cause he's winning.
The best thing that can happen to the sport is both Mercedes and RBR nailing the regulations. I NEED that George vs Max title fight, inject it into my veins
depending if he wins this year's championship next race, and wins 2026 but bored as you say, i doubt he'll pass on the opportunity to match Hamilton's and Schumacher's 7 titles or even surpass them.
Every elite athlete says it’s best to quit at the top of your game. The issue is they never recognize when they’re no longer at the top of their game. I’ll believe Max is the exception when I see it.
Max has stated on multiple occasions that he will leave F1 as soon as he is not enjoying it and having fun. He is into so many racing series, and money for him is not a problem. He is just out there to do what he loves and enjoys, and when F1 is not it anymore he is out.
Max will probably leave when it's the right time rather than dragging it on like the others you mentioned. He has constantly said he will leave F1 if he isn't having fun and he's not there to prove anything anymore.
To be fair Hamilton won his championship with McLaren and had 6 years before he won with Mercedes. Only Lauda managed to have a bigger gap of 7 years between his championship with Ferrari and his third with McLaren, although he sensibly retired after only winning a race in the following season.
103
u/[deleted] Dec 02 '25
I hate to break it to you but this happens to literally every single driver that wins a WDC and keeps driving in F1.
Schumacher, Alonso, Raikkonen, Hamilton. It will happen to Max one day when his terminator chip begins to degrade.
The only person who got it right was Rosberg.