Autobayng News Team
Max Verstappen has raised the possibility of leaving Formula 1 at the end of this season if he remains unhappy with the state of racing in the series.
The Red Bull driver has repeatedly complained F1’s new generation of cars are unexciting to drive.
Asked by the BBC whether he would consider leaving at the end of the year, Verstappen said: “That’s what I’m saying. I’m thinking about everything inside this paddock.”
“You just think about: ‘is it worth it, or do I enjoy being more at home with my family?’” he added. “Seeing my friends more when you’re not enjoying your sport?”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, a strong supporter of F1’s new rules, has said Verstappen is criticising them because he no longer has a competitive car. Verstappen refuted this claim.
“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.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
“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.
“And of course you can look at it and make a lot of money. Great. But at the end of the day it’s not about money any more because this has always been my passion.”
Separately, Verstappen said he was counting down the laps until he finished the Japanese Grand Prix. “I was definitely counting them off,” he said. “Fifteen to go, ten to go, five to go. Come on, yes, it’s over.”
Verstappen moved up three places over the opening laps then slowly gained on Gasly. After the Safety Car period he spent the rest of the race trying to pass the Alpine.
“I was behind him in China as well, though in China I was behind a lot of cars,” said Verstappen. “But with these cars you just cannot overtake properly.
“You can overtake, but then you have no battery left on the next straight. I try to laugh about it, because there is no point getting frustrated all the time. It is obviously not how it should be.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Verstappen did get ahead of Gasly at one point, on lap seven, but had taken too much out of his battery and immediately lost the position again. He waved to Gasly as they swapped places.
Having been unhappy with the balance of his car in qualifying, after Red Bull introduced a package of upgrades, Verstappen said it felt little better in the race. He said the team needs to improve the car “quite a lot” between now and the next race in Miami in five weeks’ time, “because we have got plenty of problems.
“Hopefully it all becomes a bit more driveable, because the race was the same as qualifying. I can move forward a bit, but that is about it.”
Team principal Laurent Mekies said the race revealed “lot more about where our car’s current limitations are.”
“It was important for us to get involved in those battles and for both Max and Isack [Hadjar] to complete the race distance, so we could continue to gather more data. Of course, we have a lot of work to do and we now have a few weeks to try and find some fixes for those limitations.”
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
2026 Japanese Grand Prix
- ‘Good show, good for everyone’: Ferrari and Mercedes bosses praise Japanese GP
- Verstappen says he could walk away from F1 at end of 2026 over new rules
- 2026 Japanese Grand Prix interactive data: lap charts, times and tyres
- Bearman says Colapinto didn’t leave him enough space to avoid crash
- FIA must address dangerous closing speeds for next race after Bearman’s crash – Sainz
