Max Verstappen has been open about his potential retirement at the end of his current contract with Red Bull.
The Dutchman’s current deal with Red Bull runs until 2028, with Verstappen apparently interested in pursuing other activities outside of the sport.
Verstappen has raised the growing Formula 1 calendar as one of the key reasons behind his potential retirement from the driving seat, with the 2023 season seeing the most number of races in the sport’s history.
The views floated by Verstappen come in stark contrast to his teammate, with Sergio Perez’s father recently claiming his son will “be in F1 for the next 10 years,” most likely at Red Bull.
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Ex-racing driver Pedro de la Rosa has cited the different approach taken by the drivers as evidence that Perez will be at Red Bull long after Verstappen has moved away from the reigning world champions.
“I never look at how many years a driver has been in Formula 1. I look at their results, and also how hungry they are.
“Checo has proven to be a very consistent guy, always very hungry because he’s been in uncompetitive teams most of his career.
“So I think that one very important thing is, if you start your career in Formula 1, and are on a winning team, or you are staying at an early age of your Formula 1 career in a top team, it’s easy to lose interest or motivation towards the end. And that could be after five years, eight years or 14.
“But when you have been on the tough end, you appreciate what you have. And what Checo has right now is hugely interesting. He can wake up every Sunday morning thinking if I have a good day today, I can win this one.
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“And this is something that we’ve been fighting all our lives to be in that position. So therefore, I don’t think that Checo will be tired of it, because he hasn’t had enough of it.
“I really think that Checo will stay at Red Bull or should stay because he’s been getting stronger and stronger race by race since he joined Red Bull.
“I think that now that Checo is performing so well, I don’t see like Red Bull considering changing him.”