ZANDVOORT, The Netherlands — Max Verstappen is scheduled to make his 200th Formula 1 start in this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, but the three-time world champion hinted that his career could be winding down.
The 26-year-old driver made his Formula 1 debut for Toro Rossso in 2015 and has won the past three series championships for Red Bull.
He says he won’t be around for another 200 Formula 1 races and is unsure if he will race past the end of his contract, which expires at the end of 2028.
“No (to another 200), nice and easy, so we have passed halfway for sure,” Verstappen said. “But it’s already been an incredible ride. I mean, 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.
“Of course, ’28 is still very far away but in my mind at the moment, I’m not thinking about a new contract. I just want to see how it goes (and) also see the new regulations first, if it’s fun or not. Then even in ’26 or ’27 there is a lot of time to decide what happens.”
Verstappen has won all of the F-1 races at his home country’s Zandvoort circuit since the Dutch Grand Prix returned in 2021.
“It looks like there are many more teams involved that can actually win a race, so for sure I’m not coming into the weekend saying, ‘Yeah we’re going to win the race,’” he said. “I just want to have a clean weekend, understand it, learn from it. Of course we analyzed a lot over the break and (will) try to do things a bit different, a little better. We’ll find out over the course of the weekend how that will go.”
