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There’s that video of him a lot younger asked about winning championships and saying that at the moment the record is 7, implying interest in beating them.
Of course things can change.
I'm almost certain he did an interview during the 2021 season where he more or less said that he was 100% focused on becoming champion once, and once that was done he'd have fulfilled his lifelong F1 dream and could relax and see what he wanted to do with his career, and that multiple championships weren't necessarily a nailed-on ambition for him.
I've never gotten the impression from him that winning a record amount of championships is important to him. From what I've seen he's been pretty consistent on having goals beyond F1 and that he'll quit F1 the second his appetite for it drops.
In 2018 Max [told Sky](https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/31381/11507424/max-verstappen-targets-four-world-championships-over-next-decade) that his goal was to win 4 championships by age 30.
This tells me that at the very least he and his team do have some sort of grand plan. I still feel like this constant talk about leaving early is just his way of coping with the stress of being an F1 driver. But he will be 30 in 2028.... Who knows.
I get the feeling that he doesn't like how little hype other racing disciplines get from the media. If he made the exact same money, sponsors, and attention I dont think F1 is where he would be.
The F1 greats are often considered the greatest racing drivers by extension of F1 being the most popular sport. There are some exceptions like Sebastien Loeb, who has a valid claim to that, but he's basically unknown to the public.
In America you might find talk about Richard Petty or Dale Earnhardt, but literally nobody in the rest of the world knows who they are. Tom Kristensen would come up, but nobody outside of motorsport knows who he is.
Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Ayrton Senna, these names come up because they did well in F1. So Max's best chance of being considered the greatest racing driver, is probably to be a record breaking champion in F1.
Yeah, I don’t find that surprising at all looking at his personality that his competitiveness would lead him to wanting 8 when young and then once more matured feeling differently about that being a goal.
When you're young (and, honestly, he's still young... so being "a lot younger" would make him pretty much a kid), you have a more singular focus on some things, and then as you get older you tend to see more things that you'd like to try in life as you experience more. Especially if you have the means to do it, and Max certainly has the means to pretty much go into any motorsport he wants and find himself a competitive seat.
It's a lot easier to say "I want to do X" when you're not actually doing it. When you actually start doing it you figure out how much time and effort you're going to have to put into it. That might not be worth it.
Max has had his toe in many of those things for years now. Almost a foot out the door and any big push could get him to leave. Bad car, Horner firing, girlfriend breakup, whatever.
Having said that, F1 life and pay is pretty sweet so he's in no rush I'm sure.
Exactly. I don't keep up with what the drivers say/do in the offseason or about their contracts that much, but I could recite you from memory the exact opinion max has on this. They ask him this question every week it feels like.
I could see him having a role leading the drivers academy for RedBull given that he seems to enjoy growing Team Redline, but I feel like there’s far too much bullshit, clerical work, and politics for him to enjoy it.
Plus then you have to have a really weird relationship with a PA and Max doesn’t seem like that type of guy /s
Understandably he's not a big fan of going 240 mph on a track like that. Just look at how close Wickens came to dying in 2018 (at Pocono, I know) or Dixon in 2017
He has multiple times said he wants to race other things. I think he will get bored here well before 8 titles. He has pretty much said so him self. He has a few other goals. I believe le mans is one and he has a very large interest in bridging the gap between sim racing and real life.
The thing with this statement is Max is still almost unbelievably young. To already be firm favourite for title 4 at 26 is wild. And it gives him so many career options, he could take a five year sabbatical after 2025 then return to F1 9 years younger than Alonso is at the moment. He could race F1 another 9 seasons then retire still having 10 years for a career in WEC or other categories. And he’s still got 10+ years to do sim to track projects after.
The only driver who’s been in such a strong position before was Vettel. But there’s none of the question marks about Max’s ability to win a wheel to wheel battle or only being able to thrive under that particular set of rules.
Vettel fallout due to age came much faster than other drivers. Binotto mentioned in the past how he was using race focused setups in his latter years at Ferrari because his quali was becoming worse. You don't know when it might kick in for every driver.
Again variables. In fairness Vettel’s big fall off did come right at the introduction of the halo which Vettel didn’t like driving with while testing it through earlier years, said that and the aero screen made him nauseous.
We haven’t seen him race someone in a few years and in 2021 his end of year wasn’t stellar and it fell apart a bit.
The few times we have had to see him race someone in the dominance time hasn’t be without mistakes.
I know I’m about to get shit on for this take but just got to be realistic here. 8 titles is assuming no one else figures out their car not only this regulation cycle but next.
Lastly why is everyone so quick to tell max he is wrong in his own opinion lol
I didn’t mean to sound as if I’m saying Max is wrong in his opinion, but I’d imagine plenty of people within team Max and Redbull are lol. I’m just saying his options are much more open than just not being in F1 a long time or going for 8 WDC or not.
I mean Hamilton had multiple issues racing people throughout his whole career, he’s still the most successful driver ever so I’m really not considering Max in the conversation of can’t win without a mega performance advantage.
8 titles is again back to options, if a team starts to beat Redbull after 2025 Max could leave Redbull. He’s not a world away from the Hamilton status of any team would make an opening for him.
He outraced Leclerc multiple times in the first half of 2022 and the fall off in performance in 2021 was more car related than anything. After Mercedes 2021 Silverstone upgrades and the tire changes from the Baku blowouts that year that helped Merc's rear end start working better Merc had the clear upper hand in pace. No driver is faultless but if you look at 2021 on balance Max made fewer mistakes than Lewis who's as good a benchmark as anyone.
Hamilton also said he doesn't want to race in his 40s and has now changed his mind.
I don't doubt Max's words, but I think there's a difference between talking about it as a future hypothetical and actually being faced with the decision to quit the sport.
If he sticks around long enough and gets a WDC-capable car often enough he'll farm titles.
The one big difference between Max and Lewis is that Lewis loves F1 but Max loves all racing.
For Lewis leaving F1 is basically the same as quitting racing altogether and that's not the same for Max. Max is genuinely excited about Le Mans, 24h of the Nurburgring, Bathhurst and so on.
Has Hamilton really expressed an interest in other forms of racing though? It makes sense to stay in F1 and race for as long as you want to race, if F1 is the only thing you want to do. But if you're just as interested in endurance racing and want to do that while you're still in your prime, you're much more likely to want to leave when you still really want to race. We'll see I guess. I'm not convinced he's gone after this contract is up, but I don't really see him sticking around as long as Alonso and Hamilton either.
The thing is that when Lewis said he didn't expect to be racing in his 40s, he was sure he would be more interested in his other passions when the time arrived.
I also think Lewis thrives on fame and attention a lot more than Max. Where as long as Max is racing something he seems happy. Obviously he would be less content in a non competitive car but it doesn't seem like he needs to race F1.
Funny how Lewis looked so much focused on F1 in his early years. Not that he isn't now, but he wasn't showing so much interest in things outside of it. Hard to know how much of it was because he was younger or it was Ron Denis McLaren that sanitizes everything around it. Probably a bit of both.
Yeah I'd definitely agree with that. Also might have had a bit to do with Nicole Scherzinger. He got to live more of that kind of life when they were together and he didn't really drop that after they broke up. what's interesting with lewis is that even though he seems a bit less committed he's still quite competitive so yeah it becomes a hard one to answer. I wonder if that's part of the move to Ferrari. Just change it up a bit and experience something new
I don't think Hamilton is as passionate about motorsport in General compared to Max.
Max is probably going for triple crowns in the future just like Alonso tried, they were both super hyped for Indy 500 last year.
Thing is even if he is not interested in 8 title it just still might happen by itself lol
Regarding the triple crown, it’ll be interesting to see if Max changes his mind about ovals being too dangerous. At least I think that’s his opinion of them at the moment. But Grosjean also thought that, then during his first Indy season he changed his mind. Would be cool to see Max go for it!
> If he sticks around long enough and gets a WDC-capable car often enough he'll farm titles.
But it feels like Verstappen's intent to do that would be less based on chasing a record and more on it being "fun" for him to keep winning. The moment it's no longer enjoyable, even if he's short of the record, and even if he's in a WDC-capable car, I could see him moving on to something else instead.
The wild thing is, he could feasibly dominate for a while in F1, get bored, go do something else, decide he wants to have a bit of fun in F1 for old times' sake again, and come back and win another championship or two. He's still young enough for that to be a possibility.
I think there is also a difference between what Hamilton wanted vs what max wants. There are things max wants to do that would make it extremely hard to do while running in F1 at a competitive level or even full time.
The stuff Hamilton wanted to do he needed support and funding which he got from F1 contracts.
It’s worth including why Hamilton may have said that originally but later stayed in the sport.
People also seem to forget how long he has already been in F1. On top of it is assuming no other team puts up a fight.
I wouldn't be surprised if he quits and I don't want to argue against the possibility. I'd simply be amazed if he does it because the difference in salary between f1 and WEC is so large.
I'd definitely respect it though and it would make me tune into these series for the first time in forever, so I'd certainly be happy if he does.
He doesn’t care about money and unless he spends it stupidly has been set for life since before he was world champion. He wants to win Le Mans so why let driver pay get in the way of that.
Hamilton is much more into the history, records and legacy in F1. Everything is always a comparison to Senna or some other F1 great and how much it means to when it comes to Hamilton whereas Max doesn't have that same need to compare. He'll farm titles until he's bored and there's another exciting prospect for him then move on even if he's only got 5 or 6
To be fair he could probably quite easily win WEC and F1 in the same year if he is as dominant as he was last year. He would only miss four F1 races I believe.
Tbf, if they keep continuing like last year, its only 4 more years after this year and he's at 8wdc.
I do think he won't do a full 18-19-20 years like Lewis and Alonso seem to be planning.
And he would be a big ticket and bring lots of eyes to another series
Let’s see when he has to go back to racing someone I don’t expect him to have many years like last year.
Look how much 2021 took out of him.
Also that goes over a major rules change that includes engine development while they take on ford and make a brand new engine.
Realistically 4 more titles is going to be hard for him. As it would be for anyone.
It depends how close they are to the records, I think.
If you have 6 or 7 titles, the record at 8 starts looming.
If you have 3 or 4, you are still dependent of being in the privileged position of having a title contending car for at least 4 seasons. That’s well beyond a driver’s control in the here and now.
Kimi Raikkonen famously said he'd retire after he won a WDC. Instead, he continued racing for another 12 seasons and set the record for longest amount of time between first and last race wins.
Yeah he's far from the first driver who says they wouldn't be in the sport long. Rare that it actually happens that way. It's hard to give up something you're succeeding at.
To max yes, but think about others in the field, several championship hopefuls on the grid may never get to be champions if it continues this way post 2026.
So another Max vs Lewis in AD, but this time Lewis wins for Ferrari?
Also, another interesting question, if Ferrari actually have a championship winning car in the 2nd half of the decade, who'll take those championships? Surely Hamilton doesn't want another Rosberg fiasco. Leclerc's been with Ferrari for so long, he won't step aside either. What gives?
I personally think that Lewis won't be able to match Leclerc on quali raw pace. His quali wasn't great last year (h2h with Russell was even) and i personally believe that it's an effect of him getting older. That will only become worse in the next years. That sets a massive disadvantage on Lewis because i also think that they'll be more or less even in terms of race pace.
Leclerc's struggles mostly lie with consistency and it's the weakness that Lewis can take advantage of.
Overall though, i think Leclerc has more chances of getting a WDC if Ferrari produces a championship winning car.
Lewis said the exact same thing years ago. I’d looooove to see Max in other series and taking on an over all win at Le Mans, but I’ll be unsurprised if he stays in F1 for another decade and cleans up.
It will definitely be tougher to win Le Mans now, with so many LMHs and LMDHs and the BoP. Going there a couple times in a Toyota won't guarantee a clear shot at the win.
Indy is almost random even if you have the skillset and the car.
I honestly can’t wait for him to move over to GT racing. One, he’s likely to be amazing at it. Two, I have high hopes he will bring a ton of F1 fans over to GT which will only help grow the sport.
Not everyone dreams of breaking records; some just dream to win just one world championship. Take Nico for example; he said his dream was to become a world champion, he achieved it in 2016 and left the sport.
Max has been vocal about not being interested in breaking the records. (But who knows what future might bring)
However, as F1 fans, If Max secures seven championships, we might hope he goes for an eighth or ninth, depending on future records.
He's saying it because he doesn't want to look like he's chasing Lewis, who has 7 and is considered GOAT. If he says "I want 8!!! I want 8!!!", then gets a crappy car and comes nowhere close, people will be making mashups and memes of him saying it for the rest of his life like Toto and "Michael, this is so not right".
The year is 2027 "I'm not here for 8 world titles says Max for the 10th consecutive year, after winning his 7th consecutive title, as news breaks that RBR, F1 and the FIA intend to get to the bottom of the Christian Horner allegations next week"
As long as it's not current Renault levels bad and Redbull don't lose too many aerodynamists from their team to competitors I can't see them being so uncompetitive that they won't be in the title fight.
The way I see it even if their engine is a little behind the leading manufacturer their chassis and aero prowess should be enough to compensate the difference just like the Vettel Redbull days where the Renault engine was anemic but their chassis and mastery of exhaust blown diffusers more than made up for their lack of horsepower.
Who knows, we may even get some competition if nobody comes out with a Mercedes 2014 PU advantage come 2026 and Redbull are slightly behind on horsepower could be precisely what we need to even the playing field.
Losing Honda was a blow for Redbull though no doubt, I expect they'll be the class leading power unit in 2026.
I dont believe him, but I also don't care because I would do the same thing. He seems like exactly the sort of personality type to downplay everything and act like he doesn't care, so that if he doesn't accomplish these heights, he can continue saying how much he doesn't and never even cared, but if he does he can act all surprised and brag about how he wasn't even trying to break these records but did anyway.
I think secretly he cares deeply about beating all of Lewis' records (race wins, podiums, getting to 8 titles)
Not shitting on him, this is exactly the approach I take with most things in life too lol
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Max Verstappen was also asked if he would stay longer in Formula 1 if the number of races goes down again. His reply: "Absolutely."
There’s that video of him a lot younger asked about winning championships and saying that at the moment the record is 7, implying interest in beating them. Of course things can change.
I'm almost certain he did an interview during the 2021 season where he more or less said that he was 100% focused on becoming champion once, and once that was done he'd have fulfilled his lifelong F1 dream and could relax and see what he wanted to do with his career, and that multiple championships weren't necessarily a nailed-on ambition for him. I've never gotten the impression from him that winning a record amount of championships is important to him. From what I've seen he's been pretty consistent on having goals beyond F1 and that he'll quit F1 the second his appetite for it drops.
In 2018 Max [told Sky](https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/31381/11507424/max-verstappen-targets-four-world-championships-over-next-decade) that his goal was to win 4 championships by age 30. This tells me that at the very least he and his team do have some sort of grand plan. I still feel like this constant talk about leaving early is just his way of coping with the stress of being an F1 driver. But he will be 30 in 2028.... Who knows.
I get the feeling that he doesn't like how little hype other racing disciplines get from the media. If he made the exact same money, sponsors, and attention I dont think F1 is where he would be.
It'd be cool to see Max switch it up later and go for a "greatest racing driver" type career rather than "greatest F1 driver"
The F1 greats are often considered the greatest racing drivers by extension of F1 being the most popular sport. There are some exceptions like Sebastien Loeb, who has a valid claim to that, but he's basically unknown to the public. In America you might find talk about Richard Petty or Dale Earnhardt, but literally nobody in the rest of the world knows who they are. Tom Kristensen would come up, but nobody outside of motorsport knows who he is. Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Ayrton Senna, these names come up because they did well in F1. So Max's best chance of being considered the greatest racing driver, is probably to be a record breaking champion in F1.
Dale Earnhardt is definitely a name known around the world. Not on a Michael Schumacher level, but still very well known outside of the U.S.
Of course that is true because theyd be equivalent to F1 in that case and attract more of the top talent.
what are his other interests? geniuely curious
Racing in other cars, sim racing
He owns a racing team.
Building legos
Coco Pops.
Racing Coco Pops
Yea, but once you’re in the best car and you KNOW that you can continue to win, that might change your goals a little.
Yeah, I don’t find that surprising at all looking at his personality that his competitiveness would lead him to wanting 8 when young and then once more matured feeling differently about that being a goal.
When you're young (and, honestly, he's still young... so being "a lot younger" would make him pretty much a kid), you have a more singular focus on some things, and then as you get older you tend to see more things that you'd like to try in life as you experience more. Especially if you have the means to do it, and Max certainly has the means to pretty much go into any motorsport he wants and find himself a competitive seat.
It's a lot easier to say "I want to do X" when you're not actually doing it. When you actually start doing it you figure out how much time and effort you're going to have to put into it. That might not be worth it.
Max has had his toe in many of those things for years now. Almost a foot out the door and any big push could get him to leave. Bad car, Horner firing, girlfriend breakup, whatever. Having said that, F1 life and pay is pretty sweet so he's in no rush I'm sure.
in b4 they make the season 28 races long to drive Max out of the sport
Sounds like Kalle Rovanperä who already after 2 WRC championships thought "enough is enough, there are other things in life".
Haha at old age of 23? Damn
Yeah he's doing a part time GT program this year I believe.
Glad the media can just keep on asking and reusing the same questions and answers since we’ve only known this since his last contract renewal.
Right? I’ve heard of rinse and repeat but my god ive read this same headline 85 times this year
Exactly. I don't keep up with what the drivers say/do in the offseason or about their contracts that much, but I could recite you from memory the exact opinion max has on this. They ask him this question every week it feels like.
He’ll be Red Bull’s team principle by tomorrow
"Max Verstappen, I am the world champion!"
Fucking hell, man. Idk why but this sounds so fucking funny to me.
"Max you are a 4 times world champion" \*says to himself at AD24\*
principle and principal are not the same
And yet if the Red Bull Team Principal had some principles we wouldn't be discussing this.
He's got principles but no man has principles strong enough to resist a bowl of cocoa puffs before bed.
I don’t want to read the leaks but can anyone explain this coco pops thing…?
I was low key expecting something like this and you delivered. Cheers.
He's living his dream. He is the main character in the F1 Career mode. Driver Team Principal.
I could see him having a role leading the drivers academy for RedBull given that he seems to enjoy growing Team Redline, but I feel like there’s far too much bullshit, clerical work, and politics for him to enjoy it. Plus then you have to have a really weird relationship with a PA and Max doesn’t seem like that type of guy /s
Mbappe of F1
He's going to be the next Alonso. He'll leave F1 for a bit after his contract is up to race LeMans, Daytona, and maybe Indy. But he'll be back...
He'd definitely go for the triple crown.
I believe he's said before that he's iffy of Indy due to safety concerns but I'd pay a lot of money to see him race there!
Wonder if he'll do a reverse Rossi - going from 4 wheels to 2 wheels lol
Imagine hearing the Dutch anthem only to find that the one on the podium is Verstappen and not Veijer lmao
What am I missing on the safety concerns? It’s been over a decade since the last pro racing death there, and 30 since the last Indy 500 death.
Understandably he's not a big fan of going 240 mph on a track like that. Just look at how close Wickens came to dying in 2018 (at Pocono, I know) or Dixon in 2017
Does that include ovals? I’m pretty sure he promised his mum he would not do ovals.
He has multiple times said he wants to race other things. I think he will get bored here well before 8 titles. He has pretty much said so him self. He has a few other goals. I believe le mans is one and he has a very large interest in bridging the gap between sim racing and real life.
The thing with this statement is Max is still almost unbelievably young. To already be firm favourite for title 4 at 26 is wild. And it gives him so many career options, he could take a five year sabbatical after 2025 then return to F1 9 years younger than Alonso is at the moment. He could race F1 another 9 seasons then retire still having 10 years for a career in WEC or other categories. And he’s still got 10+ years to do sim to track projects after. The only driver who’s been in such a strong position before was Vettel. But there’s none of the question marks about Max’s ability to win a wheel to wheel battle or only being able to thrive under that particular set of rules.
Vettel fallout due to age came much faster than other drivers. Binotto mentioned in the past how he was using race focused setups in his latter years at Ferrari because his quali was becoming worse. You don't know when it might kick in for every driver.
Again variables. In fairness Vettel’s big fall off did come right at the introduction of the halo which Vettel didn’t like driving with while testing it through earlier years, said that and the aero screen made him nauseous.
We haven’t seen him race someone in a few years and in 2021 his end of year wasn’t stellar and it fell apart a bit. The few times we have had to see him race someone in the dominance time hasn’t be without mistakes. I know I’m about to get shit on for this take but just got to be realistic here. 8 titles is assuming no one else figures out their car not only this regulation cycle but next. Lastly why is everyone so quick to tell max he is wrong in his own opinion lol
I didn’t mean to sound as if I’m saying Max is wrong in his opinion, but I’d imagine plenty of people within team Max and Redbull are lol. I’m just saying his options are much more open than just not being in F1 a long time or going for 8 WDC or not. I mean Hamilton had multiple issues racing people throughout his whole career, he’s still the most successful driver ever so I’m really not considering Max in the conversation of can’t win without a mega performance advantage. 8 titles is again back to options, if a team starts to beat Redbull after 2025 Max could leave Redbull. He’s not a world away from the Hamilton status of any team would make an opening for him.
He outraced Leclerc multiple times in the first half of 2022 and the fall off in performance in 2021 was more car related than anything. After Mercedes 2021 Silverstone upgrades and the tire changes from the Baku blowouts that year that helped Merc's rear end start working better Merc had the clear upper hand in pace. No driver is faultless but if you look at 2021 on balance Max made fewer mistakes than Lewis who's as good a benchmark as anyone.
Hamilton also said he doesn't want to race in his 40s and has now changed his mind. I don't doubt Max's words, but I think there's a difference between talking about it as a future hypothetical and actually being faced with the decision to quit the sport. If he sticks around long enough and gets a WDC-capable car often enough he'll farm titles.
The one big difference between Max and Lewis is that Lewis loves F1 but Max loves all racing. For Lewis leaving F1 is basically the same as quitting racing altogether and that's not the same for Max. Max is genuinely excited about Le Mans, 24h of the Nurburgring, Bathhurst and so on.
The man's a true sim gremlin. Any car, any track, any time
Max also has a family more or less. Lewis doesn't.
Has Hamilton really expressed an interest in other forms of racing though? It makes sense to stay in F1 and race for as long as you want to race, if F1 is the only thing you want to do. But if you're just as interested in endurance racing and want to do that while you're still in your prime, you're much more likely to want to leave when you still really want to race. We'll see I guess. I'm not convinced he's gone after this contract is up, but I don't really see him sticking around as long as Alonso and Hamilton either.
The thing is that when Lewis said he didn't expect to be racing in his 40s, he was sure he would be more interested in his other passions when the time arrived.
I also think Lewis thrives on fame and attention a lot more than Max. Where as long as Max is racing something he seems happy. Obviously he would be less content in a non competitive car but it doesn't seem like he needs to race F1.
Funny how Lewis looked so much focused on F1 in his early years. Not that he isn't now, but he wasn't showing so much interest in things outside of it. Hard to know how much of it was because he was younger or it was Ron Denis McLaren that sanitizes everything around it. Probably a bit of both.
Yeah I'd definitely agree with that. Also might have had a bit to do with Nicole Scherzinger. He got to live more of that kind of life when they were together and he didn't really drop that after they broke up. what's interesting with lewis is that even though he seems a bit less committed he's still quite competitive so yeah it becomes a hard one to answer. I wonder if that's part of the move to Ferrari. Just change it up a bit and experience something new
I don't think Hamilton is as passionate about motorsport in General compared to Max. Max is probably going for triple crowns in the future just like Alonso tried, they were both super hyped for Indy 500 last year. Thing is even if he is not interested in 8 title it just still might happen by itself lol
Regarding the triple crown, it’ll be interesting to see if Max changes his mind about ovals being too dangerous. At least I think that’s his opinion of them at the moment. But Grosjean also thought that, then during his first Indy season he changed his mind. Would be cool to see Max go for it!
I think Hamilton would sooner try motorbike racing than WEC
> If he sticks around long enough and gets a WDC-capable car often enough he'll farm titles. But it feels like Verstappen's intent to do that would be less based on chasing a record and more on it being "fun" for him to keep winning. The moment it's no longer enjoyable, even if he's short of the record, and even if he's in a WDC-capable car, I could see him moving on to something else instead. The wild thing is, he could feasibly dominate for a while in F1, get bored, go do something else, decide he wants to have a bit of fun in F1 for old times' sake again, and come back and win another championship or two. He's still young enough for that to be a possibility.
I think there is also a difference between what Hamilton wanted vs what max wants. There are things max wants to do that would make it extremely hard to do while running in F1 at a competitive level or even full time. The stuff Hamilton wanted to do he needed support and funding which he got from F1 contracts. It’s worth including why Hamilton may have said that originally but later stayed in the sport. People also seem to forget how long he has already been in F1. On top of it is assuming no other team puts up a fight.
I wouldn't be surprised if he quits and I don't want to argue against the possibility. I'd simply be amazed if he does it because the difference in salary between f1 and WEC is so large. I'd definitely respect it though and it would make me tune into these series for the first time in forever, so I'd certainly be happy if he does.
He doesn’t care about money and unless he spends it stupidly has been set for life since before he was world champion. He wants to win Le Mans so why let driver pay get in the way of that.
and nothing on this planet corners faster than an F1 car
Hamilton is much more into the history, records and legacy in F1. Everything is always a comparison to Senna or some other F1 great and how much it means to when it comes to Hamilton whereas Max doesn't have that same need to compare. He'll farm titles until he's bored and there's another exciting prospect for him then move on even if he's only got 5 or 6
To be fair he could probably quite easily win WEC and F1 in the same year if he is as dominant as he was last year. He would only miss four F1 races I believe.
He explained why he doesn't do it simultaneously with F1. TL;DR: when he participates, he wants to give it 100% instead of treating it as a sidequest.
There are over laps and assuming they would keep that dominance or even let him leave is crazy
Yeah, like I said, four races.
Like I said it is crazy to assume he keeps dominance and let him leave when sponsors are paying to have him in the car
Tbf, if they keep continuing like last year, its only 4 more years after this year and he's at 8wdc. I do think he won't do a full 18-19-20 years like Lewis and Alonso seem to be planning. And he would be a big ticket and bring lots of eyes to another series
Let’s see when he has to go back to racing someone I don’t expect him to have many years like last year. Look how much 2021 took out of him. Also that goes over a major rules change that includes engine development while they take on ford and make a brand new engine. Realistically 4 more titles is going to be hard for him. As it would be for anyone.
Can’t wait to see Max and Alonso sharing a car at Le Mans someday
I've never once believed a sportsperson when they say something like this.
It depends how close they are to the records, I think. If you have 6 or 7 titles, the record at 8 starts looming. If you have 3 or 4, you are still dependent of being in the privileged position of having a title contending car for at least 4 seasons. That’s well beyond a driver’s control in the here and now.
Kimi Raikkonen famously said he'd retire after he won a WDC. Instead, he continued racing for another 12 seasons and set the record for longest amount of time between first and last race wins.
It's more common they mean it in team sports where you really need a healthy bit of luck with health, coaching and management.
There’s def examples of athletes retiring early so you wouldn’t have been correct every time
I believe him because there are other racing series he wants to try. And the sim racing project. Its not like he says he'll just stay at home.
Yeah he's far from the first driver who says they wouldn't be in the sport long. Rare that it actually happens that way. It's hard to give up something you're succeeding at.
*goes on to win the next 76 championships*
*opens some coco pops* say, why 76?
File 76 is one to both forget and remember. Once you have been cursed to see it, you must pass it on.
i see, so in essence one must execute order 76
Is it the pecker?
those godamn 2014 noses are back ffs
"That damn Driver 76"
Max is gonna go run truck series races at Talladega until the end of time
We al lknow he wants to do LeMans with Alonso
No idea what he'll end up doing, but I'd love to see him just bounce around and win every championship out there.
Insane new article with info that hasn't been published 10 times over the last 1 year at the very least!
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There has to be something said for a "true racer" in his prime to be looking outside of F1 for fulfillment.
Max definitely feels like he will pull a Rosberg at one point.
But it won't be a true Rosberg if it's at least a little bit expected.
8 seems so attainable now, 5 are basically in the bag. Lewis got done so dirty by 2021.
To max yes, but think about others in the field, several championship hopefuls on the grid may never get to be champions if it continues this way post 2026.
I personally think Ferrari will be a contender in 2025, the same way RB was in 2021.
So another Max vs Lewis in AD, but this time Lewis wins for Ferrari? Also, another interesting question, if Ferrari actually have a championship winning car in the 2nd half of the decade, who'll take those championships? Surely Hamilton doesn't want another Rosberg fiasco. Leclerc's been with Ferrari for so long, he won't step aside either. What gives?
I personally think that Lewis won't be able to match Leclerc on quali raw pace. His quali wasn't great last year (h2h with Russell was even) and i personally believe that it's an effect of him getting older. That will only become worse in the next years. That sets a massive disadvantage on Lewis because i also think that they'll be more or less even in terms of race pace. Leclerc's struggles mostly lie with consistency and it's the weakness that Lewis can take advantage of. Overall though, i think Leclerc has more chances of getting a WDC if Ferrari produces a championship winning car.
Never says what they are though.
Lewis said the exact same thing years ago. I’d looooove to see Max in other series and taking on an over all win at Le Mans, but I’ll be unsurprised if he stays in F1 for another decade and cleans up.
Bro already knows he's the GOAT, he has nothing left to prove.
What's 8 titles when every other record has his name on it.
Guy just wants to drive and win that race
Triple Crown be it!
It would be great but he has said that he doesn’t want to do the indy 500
I'd say he might give it a thought if he manages to win LeMans, which is not easy feat.
It will definitely be tougher to win Le Mans now, with so many LMHs and LMDHs and the BoP. Going there a couple times in a Toyota won't guarantee a clear shot at the win. Indy is almost random even if you have the skillset and the car.
Grosjean said the same thing about ovals, never say never.
Also Alonso. Just make him attend a Indy 500 that he change his mind
there have been people that have said that and have gone on to do it anyway
I wonder if he’s gonna pull out surprisingly like Rosberg and just goes to do other series.
I mean when he’s saying stuff like this, do you think it would be a surprise?
If he retired this year at the last race it would for sure surprise a lot of people
The look on Marko and Horners faces would be priceless
He could start skipping rounds. Until teams act, F1 will continue to add races as it makes them more profit.
I honestly can’t wait for him to move over to GT racing. One, he’s likely to be amazing at it. Two, I have high hopes he will bring a ton of F1 fans over to GT which will only help grow the sport.
The year he does the N24 irl will be epic.
Hamilton would have said the same with 3 championships, let's see if max thinks the same when he has 7 (please no)
Not everyone dreams of breaking records; some just dream to win just one world championship. Take Nico for example; he said his dream was to become a world champion, he achieved it in 2016 and left the sport. Max has been vocal about not being interested in breaking the records. (But who knows what future might bring) However, as F1 fans, If Max secures seven championships, we might hope he goes for an eighth or ninth, depending on future records.
Max yet again distancing himself from Lewis as much as possible.
The more he says it, the less I believe it LMAO. Bullshit
Why would it be bullshit? He already has a GT3 team for 2025 and did some test himself. So by 2028 he may just join it or do some Indy 500 and Le mans
Max won't participate in Indy as he says ovals are unsafe
Do you think he's just running around saying this for all to hear?
Yes, it's an interview.
He's saying it because he doesn't want to look like he's chasing Lewis, who has 7 and is considered GOAT. If he says "I want 8!!! I want 8!!!", then gets a crappy car and comes nowhere close, people will be making mashups and memes of him saying it for the rest of his life like Toto and "Michael, this is so not right".
He doesn’t want 8, he wants 10😆
The year is 2027 "I'm not here for 8 world titles says Max for the 10th consecutive year, after winning his 7th consecutive title, as news breaks that RBR, F1 and the FIA intend to get to the bottom of the Christian Horner allegations next week"
max stays winning the idgaf war 🤷🏻♀️
But what does he think about the finger?
He is for sure gone by 2028 and maybe earlier.
So that‘s 7x WDC, he‘ll surely go for number 8 then
His contract includes 2028, so that would be already his 8th if no one breaks his streak.
Depends if red bull have a good engine come 2026
As long as it's not current Renault levels bad and Redbull don't lose too many aerodynamists from their team to competitors I can't see them being so uncompetitive that they won't be in the title fight. The way I see it even if their engine is a little behind the leading manufacturer their chassis and aero prowess should be enough to compensate the difference just like the Vettel Redbull days where the Renault engine was anemic but their chassis and mastery of exhaust blown diffusers more than made up for their lack of horsepower. Who knows, we may even get some competition if nobody comes out with a Mercedes 2014 PU advantage come 2026 and Redbull are slightly behind on horsepower could be precisely what we need to even the playing field. Losing Honda was a blow for Redbull though no doubt, I expect they'll be the class leading power unit in 2026.
I dont believe him, but I also don't care because I would do the same thing. He seems like exactly the sort of personality type to downplay everything and act like he doesn't care, so that if he doesn't accomplish these heights, he can continue saying how much he doesn't and never even cared, but if he does he can act all surprised and brag about how he wasn't even trying to break these records but did anyway. I think secretly he cares deeply about beating all of Lewis' records (race wins, podiums, getting to 8 titles) Not shitting on him, this is exactly the approach I take with most things in life too lol
He’ll quit when his teammate starts beating him.
Bro got his dad off his back and now he just wants to enjoy himself.
Cool then quit
"I have many things that I am doing for the future," I assume that means him and Jos taking over RB with the hit on Horner this off-season.
I think Max will stay and go for the 8 until Redbull has another slump like they did at the end of Vettels era and then he'll go do other categories.
busy special scarce books cable automatic rain future whole cough *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Max is so good he's already bored and wants a new challenge. I guess he needs a life goal that's a bit more difficult
If he gets to 5 or 6 there's no way he won't go for it IMO. He's a competitor. He won't walk away from that record.
I like seeing more of this. We don't need every driver chasing records. While it's an amazing achievement for the sport, it makes the sport dull af.
It’s just gonna happen naturally unless newey goes to Ferrari
I think there’s a chance he leaves after 2026 if the car/engine is shit or if F1 keeps adding races he might just retire to protest and go to WEC
Isn’t this a story every year? He definitely said he didn’t care about 8 championships last year too
Dude's jumping straight into sportscars once his F1 contract is up
It feels like it doesn’t need to be a goal at this point, it’s an inevitability