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Verstappen hints at early F1 retirement

He may be riding the crest of a wave after two consecutive championship wins, but Max Verstappen doesn't see himself racing in F1 into his 40s.

Newly-crowned double World ChampionMax Verstappen has hinted that he will not seek to race in F1 for as long assome of his rivals. Despite only being 25 years old, thewinner of the 2021 and 2022 titles has already competed in 159 Grands Prixsince becoming F1’s youngest ever debutant in 2015 at the age of 17 – a recordthat is unlikely to be broken since the FIA's subsequent introduction of a minimum agelimit of 18. And while rivals such as LewisHamilton and Fernando Alonso are showing no signs of slowing down at 37 and 41respectively, Verstappen intimated that he would like to be doing other thingswith his life at such an age.

Verstappen – "I want to do other stuff"

"I don't see myself driving until I'm 40 because I want to also do other stuff," Verstappen told F1 . "I'm having a lot of fun with what I'm doing right now and I'm still in F1 for a couple more years. I'm signed [with Red Bull] until 2028. "After that, it also depends how everything is going but I will probably try to do a few different kinds of racing because it's important also to try different things. "I really enjoy being part of this team for a long time and hopefully for a long time to come." If Verstappen retires after his current Red Bull deal expires in 2028, he would likely have driven in excess of 300 Grands Prix – a feat only six drivers in F1 history have achieved. Having won the World Championship in 2021 and 2022, if Verstappen continues his winning streak until 2028, he would break the record of seven championship wins currently held jointly by Hamilton and Michael Schumacher.

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