The chosen one who brought an end to Lewis Hamilton’s dominance, Max Verstappen, left his fans panicking with his recent retirement statements. Having disclosed his intentions after a shuffle in sprint weekends, the Dutchman’s retirement became the talk of the town. Moreover, it wasn’t the first time that he did so, and certainly, it won’t be the last time either.

Contracted until 2028 with Red Bull, Verstappen’s recent statement reflects his previous planning. Being content with what he has won so far, he isn’t too greedy but always wants to be in the fight to win. All of this, according to him, is enough to keep him in the sport.

Being the family man that he is and having told his plans earlier, he recently said, “It depends on how competitive the car is that last season, and the opportunities that I have around F1…and what you are doing outside of Formula 1 at that time. It’s difficult to imagine what will happen in 2028. I am not interested in winning seven or eight titles, if you have the car to do that then great. But, if it doesn’t I am already happy and that is okay.”

These statements, amid all the retirement talks at the age of just 25, have given the orange army quite some hope. With no remote signs of depletion in both his and the team’s quality, we can see him racing for the next half a decade or so.

Fans rejoice over Max Verstappen’s comments

This wasn’t the first time Max Verstappen has made comments about retirement. He has disclosed his plans, as well as the fact that he doesn’t consider F1 to be the end goal of his life and believes there are things bigger than racing in the sport. But seeing that the best car isn’t a prerequisite for him to stay, fans were happy. However, the pressure on Red Bull to retain their prodigy beyond 2028 would remain as high as ever.

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A few of the Ferrari fans also got hopeful with the statements, as the statements indicate he could be in other teams as well. Staying pessimists, seeing the past decade of poor performances, they hope Max could be the one to bring back the glory.

Max Verstappen is slowly becoming the face of F1 as Lewis Hamilton’s and Fernando Alonso’s retirements are imminent. So, the pressure could extend to everyone as the sport looks to expand exponentially.

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What do you make of these and the previous statements? Can he retire only if things change a lot? Or will he adapt to them happily?