Finishes eighth at Japanese GP Racer Verstappen planning to walk away

Max Verstappen says he is considering his future in Formula 1 after finishing eighth in the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver, 28, said he was “not enjoying the whole formula” following changes to the engine rules this season.

Asked in an interview with BBC Sport whether that meant he was going to walk away at the end of the season, the Dutchman said: “That’s what I’m saying. I’m thinking about everything inside this paddock.

“Privately I’m very happy. You also wait for 24 races. 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?”

Verstappen was talking in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live after the race at Suzuka.

He said his dissatisfaction was not to do with Red Bull’s lack of competitiveness at the start of the new season, which has seen the biggest regulation changes in F1’s history.

“I can easily accept to be in P7 or P8 where I am,” he said. “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.

“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.

Verstappen won four consecutive drivers’ titles from 2021-24 and missed out on last year’s title by just two points to Lando Norris.

However, he has had a difficult start to 2026, finishing sixth in Australia and retiring from the previous race in China.

Verstappen’s dissatisfaction with F1 is focused on the degree of energy management required of the new engines.

They need to be recharged several times a lap, and that is leading to drivers losing speed on the approach to corners at the end of long straights as the engine runs out of battery power and starts to recharge.

It is also generating a form of racing that has proved attractive to fans and many in the sport, with places swapping and swapping back again.

But Verstappen does not like the way this happens as a result of different stages of battery charge between two drivers racing.

Discussing his attempts to pass Alpine’s Pierre Gasly for seventh place, Verstappen said: “You can pass around here, but then you have no battery for the next straight.

“So I tried once just to have a look, but then of course Pierre immediately got by me again on the main straight and I think that was basically the story of today. You can pass, but then you get re-passed. That was basically it.”

Verstappen made his F1 debut in 2015 as a 17-year-old and became the youngest driver to win a race at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, aged 18 years and seven months.

He added that one option would be to race in sports cars - he is already planning to take part in the Nurburgring 24 Hours this year.
Referring to the bosses of F1 and his potential loss from the paddock, he implied that a change of the rules would make a difference to his decision.

“They know what to do,” Verstappen said.

F1 bosses are due to meet in the four-week gap between Japan and the next race in Miami to discuss changes to the rules to allow drivers to push flat-out in qualifying.

The need to manage energy over one ultimate lap and the effect this is having on driving is unanimously regarded in F1 as an issue that needs fixing. 

(BBC sport)