Would Max Verstappen really walk away from F1?

The 2026 Formula 1 season has barely begun, but one of the sport’s brightest stars is thinking about the end.

Not just of the season, but his career.

Max Verstappen, the four-time Drivers’ Champion, raised the prospects of walking away from the sport at the end of the 2026 season last weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix. His comments come in a season that began with F1 implementing the biggest set of technical regulation changes in the sport’s history, changes that include a near 50/50 split between battery power and the internal combustion engine in the power units.

That change has led to alterations in driving style, with an emphasis on energy harvesting to recover battery power. With that taking place at various spots on different circuits, including in high-speed corners as we saw last week at the Japanese Grand Prix, Verstappen is not only struggling in the standings, but finding it hard to enjoy the sport itself.

“That’s what I’m saying, I’m thinking about everything inside this paddock,” said Verstappen following the race to BBC Sport, when asked if he was considering leaving F1.

“Privately I’m very happy. You also wait for 24 races,” continued Verstappen. “This time it’s 22. But normally 24. And then you just think about is it worth it? Or do I enjoy being more at home with my family? Seeing my friends more when you’re not enjoying your sport?

“I can easily accept to be in P7 or P8 where I am,” he continued. “Because I also know that you can’t be dominating or be first or second or whatever, fighting for a podium every time. I’m very realistic in that and I’ve been there before. I’ve not only been winning in F1.

“But at the same time when you are in P7 or P8 and you are not enjoying the whole formula behind it, it doesn’t feel natural to a racing driver,” continued Verstappen. “Of course I try to adapt to it, but it’s not nice the way you have to race. It’s really anti-driving. Then at one point, yeah, it’s just not what I want to do.”

Those comments have sparked speculation throughout the paddock regarding Verstappen’s future, with many pointing to his contract with Red Bull that runs through 2028 but also contains performance clauses that could give him an out. Noted paddock insider — and Verstappen whisperer — Erik van Haren wrote over the weekend that the upcoming break until the Miami Grand Prix at the start of May is “pivotal” for his future with Red Bull, and in the sport.

Would the four-time champion truly walk away from the sport?

If you do not think so, you have not been listening to him over the years.

For the past few seasons, Verstappen has made it clear he does not want to be driving deep into his 30s, let alone his 40s like two of his current rivals, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. In an interview with RaceFans during his dominant 2023 campaign, Verstappen made it clear that even then, he saw his time in F1 coming to an end.

“No, absolutely no,” said Verstappen when asked about driving into his 40s like Hamilton and Alonso. “No desire.”

“No, I have my mind already set on what I want to do also outside of Formula 1,” he added at the time. “It’s a big passion of mine and I want to make that happen as well … 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.”

Again, that was in 2023, when Verstappen was dominating the grid and enjoying the sport itself.

But then came the spectre of the new regulations, which had the Red Bull driver sounding the alarm last season about their impact, and his future.

“My contract runs until 2028 but it [his future] will depend on the new rules in 2026, and if they are nice and fun,” Verstappen said last November at the Qatar Grand Prix. “If they are not fun, than I don’t really see myself hanging around.

“Winning seven titles is not on my mind. I know that there are three more years after this one, so it could be possible, but it is not something I need to do before I leave the sport.

“I can leave the sport easily tomorrow.”

There may certainly be a motivational aspect to Verstappen’s recent comments. He is not the only driver raising concerns over the new regulations, but as a four-time champion and one of the most recognizable faces on the grid, his comments carry substantial weight. As Van Haren wrote on Monday, the sport is taking comments from the drivers regarding the new regulations seriously, including those from Verstappen. Drivers are frustrated with how the energy harvesting has changed things inside the cockpit, and incidents such as Oliver Bearman’s “scary” crash at the Japanese Grand Prix have certainly caught their attention.

But his comments have not come in a vacuum; rather, they come with some history. Verstappen has talked about leaving F1 for years now, dating back to his dominant 2023 season where he won all but three Grands Prix, and only missed one Grand Prix podium. Even when he was having as much fun as one could have on the grid, he was thinking about the end.

His comments last weekend just make it seem like the end is approaching faster than we thought.