Max Verstappen makes firm F1 career end declaration amid 2028 contract talk

Max Verstappen, on the eve of his 200th Grand Prix, says he won’t be in F1 for a further 200 races as he’s now into the second half of his career.

Despite still only being in his mid-20s, Verstappen is now one of the most experienced drivers on the grid as he made his debut at the age of 17 in 2015. Almost a decade later, the Dutch driver is a multiple World Champion, and says he’s nearer the end than the start of his F1 career.

Max Verstappen: The incredible ride is more than halfway through

Additional reporting by Sam Cooper

Verstappen has a long-term contract with Red Bull, the team with whom he won his first race at the first time of asking when he was promoted up from Toro Rosso in the middle of 2016.

Having climbed up into F1 with Red Bull’s backing, his entire career in F1 has been with the company through its two teams, and his long-term contract has him in a seat with Red Bull until the end of 2028.

With 61 Grand Prix wins and three world championships, which could be a fourth by the end of 2024, Verstappen has entered the echelons of the sport’s all-time greats during his career but, recently, there have been more questions about his future than perhaps might be the norm for one so young.

The Dutch driver has been speculated to have been eyeing up a switch to Mercedes, with team boss Toto Wolff making his interest very obvious as he seeks a replacement for the departing Lewis Hamilton.

While Verstappen initially didn’t look to quell this speculation, he has been more committal towards his Red Bull contract in recent weeks and, following the summer break, it’s been reported that Mercedes has accepted that its attempts to woo Verstappen haven’t worked for now.

But, while Verstappen’s position at Red Bull may be solidifying again, the three-time F1 World Champion has explained that he is closer to the end of his career than the start.

Heading to Zandvoort for his 200th Grand Prix weekend, Verstappen was asked whether he has another 200 in him.

“No,” was his blunt answer as he addressed media, including PlanetF1.com, ahead of the weekend.

“Nice and easy, yeah? We’ve passed halfway, for sure.

“But it’s been already, of course, an incredible ride. 200, it doesn’t feel like 200 but, of course, we’re doing a lot of races now in a year, so you add them quite quickly.”

Pressed for detail on his answer, and whether he’ll look for a new contract for after his 2028 deal, or what he might need to convince him to stay on, Verstappen said he isn’t giving his future any thought at this point.

“I mean, of course, 2028 is still very far away,” he said.

“But, in my mind at the moment, I’m not thinking about a new contract, I just want to see how it goes.”

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Verstappen has long made his wariness over the upcoming technical rules being brought in in 2026 known, and the Dutch driver said how he feels behind the wheel of an F1 car in ’26 and ’27 will play a big role in deciding his future.

“Also see the new regulations first, you know, if it’s fun or not,” he said.

“Then even in 2026, or ’27, there’s a lot of time to decide what happens, so I just keep everything open. But yeah, I’m quite easy-going about it.”

With 200 races behind him, there have been many high points as he’s established himself as a multiple World Champion, and he explained which of these moments have been the big stand-outs.

“Honestly, I think winning your very first race – that is always very emotional,” he said.

“Because you dream of that when you’re a little kid, to be on the podium in F1, and then being on the top step, I think, is always very special.

“Winning your first championship, these kind of things, there will always be something incredible that I will look back at after my career – two highlights!”

But, with Red Bull no longer dominating F1 in the fashion it has over recent years, Verstappen faces a very tough challenge to keep up his winning streak at Zandvoort this weekend.

Verstappen is undefeated since the circuit returned to the calendar in 2021 but, with McLaren, Mercedes and, sometimes, Ferrari, proving capable of beating Red Bull this year, the home hero says he’s just hopeful of a stronger weekend as he aims to end his winless streak.

“Looking at how the season is at the moment, for sure, it looks like also many more teams involved that can actually win a race,” he said.

“So, for sure, I’m not coming into this weekend saying that, ‘Yeah, we’re going to win the race’.

“I just want to have a clean weekend, understand the car a bit more and learn from it. Of course, we analysed a lot over the break and we’ll try to do things maybe different or better. we’ll find out, of course, over the weekend how that will go.”

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