The future of Max Verstappen in Formula 1 is once again stirring whispers and conjecture across the paddock.
Because while the Red Bull driver insists he doesn’t want to walk away from the sport that made him a four-time world champion, the Dutchman’s growing love affair with racing outside the F1 bubble is beginning to sound… tempting.
And intriguingly, he’s not hiding it.
Speaking ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, Verstappen openly admitted that some of the most enjoyable racing he’s doing right now isn’t happening on the Formula 1 calendar at all.
A Champion with Wandering Interests
Verstappen has been one of the most outspoken critics of Formula 1’s sweeping new regulation overhaul that places a far greater emphasis on electrical energy and battery harvesting.
The concept hasn’t exactly thrilled the Red Bull superstar. He’s blasted the sport’s direction as “anti-racing” and even likened the cars to “Formula E on steroids,” comments that immediately triggered speculation about whether he might leave the F1 once his current deal expires in 2028, or perhaps before.
Now, his latest remarks have poured fresh fuel on that debate.
“I don't want to leave,” Verstappen told reporters in Shanghai on Thursday. “I wish I had a bit more time and a bit more fun, for sure, but I'm also doing other stuff that is a lot of fun.”
Those “other things” are far from casual hobbies. Verstappen has been deeply involved in endurance racing projects and is set to compete next May in the legendary 24 Hours Nürburgring at the fearsome Nürburgring Nordschleife – one of motorsport’s most punishing circuits.
“I get to race the Nordschleife. I hope, in the coming years, I can do Spa, Le Mans, so I'm combining stuff to find other stuff that I find really fun as well,” he added. “Of course, my team, so I have a lot of distractions at the same time.”
The 28-year-old has also been building his own racing operation off the F1 grid, running a squad in GT World Challenge Europe while continuing to test himself in endurance machinery.
And he’s enjoying every minute of it.
“Positive distractions, I would call it. But at the same time, it's a bit conflicting because I don't really enjoy the car, but I do enjoy working with all the people in the team and from the engine department as well,” he said.
“So, no, I don't want to leave. But I also hope, of course, that it gets better and I know I've had discussions with F1 and the FIA and I think we are working towards something and hopefully that will improve everything.”
The Lure of Racing Beyond F1
Verstappen’s fascination with endurance racing is hardly new. The appeal runs deep in the Verstappen family: his father, Jos Verstappen, captured the LMP2 title in the Le Mans Series in 2008 and even won his class at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans that same year.
Now Max appears eager to follow a similar path – and perhaps go even further.
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“It's a bit of a different environment that you're in, in the paddock, I would say,” he explained. “I'm probably a little bit more old school, less political, which probably I enjoy a bit more. I can probably be a bit more myself.
“So yeah, that's what I enjoy. Plus, of course, these races, like all the big endurance ones, I want to do. It's something that when I was a kid as well, my dad was doing.”
Those ambitions extend beyond just dipping a toe into the discipline. The Nürburgring outing this year could be only the beginning, with Verstappen openly eyeing endurance racing’s biggest prizes.
For now, Verstappen remains Formula 1’s biggest star and one of its fiercest competitors. But unlike some legends of the sport – such as Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton – he has repeatedly made it clear he doesn’t intend to race deep into his forties.
Part of that mindset may stem from the fact that Verstappen entered the sport extraordinarily young, debuting at just 17.
Having already conquered the sport’s biggest prizes, the Dutchman now seems increasingly eager to broaden his horizons while he still can.
“I don't need to be only a Formula 1 driver. I can also do other things and I've achieved everything that I wanted to achieve,” he argued.
“So that's why I want to explore other things. And I don't want to do them when I'm 40 years old. I think this is the perfect age to do it.”
For now, Verstappen remains firmly on the grid – and still winning.
But every new hint about life beyond Formula 1 is adding another layer to the intrigue surrounding what motorsport’s most restless champion might do next.
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