Max Verstappen reiterated his previous statement that he could retire from Formula 1 upon the expiry of his Red Bull contract.
It would still mean he plans on being in the sport for several years yet. That deal, signed last winter after the conclusion of his first title-winning season, runs until the end of the 2028 campaign and makes him the joint-highest paid driver on he grid.
The Dutchman has made it clear on several occasions that career longevity is not important to him. Fernando Alonso is still going strong aged 41 and Lewis Hamilton looks set to stick around beyond his own 40th birthday, but emulating those achievements is not part of the plan for Verstappen.
He reiterated that ahead of the final race of the 2022 season, during which he has been impressively dominant. With two titles to his name already at the age of 25 he could threaten records set by Hamilton and Michael Schumacher, but he will not commit to sticking around for long enough to make that happen.
Asked if he has thought about what happens after 2028, he told Sky Sports : "I don't know after that, but it also probably depends how competitive we are in '28. I've still got time. I don't want to make drastic decisions now."
While Verstappen is well positioned to become one of the greatest F1 has ever seen, he insists he has other goals in life which could take priority. He added: "I want to do other stuff – F1 is amazing and I've achieved a lot, and I'm very happy and proud about it... but it's a lot of travelling and it's a lot of races.
"And at one point, what is more important? Is family more important, or is F1 more important? That's when you need to make your mind up." After 22 races this year, the 2023 calendar plans for 24 race weekends – though that number could drop by one with the Chinese Grand Prix in some doubt.
While 2022 saw Verstappen set new records for dominance amid Mercedes' performance issues and Ferrari's anaemic title charge, he expects a tougher challenge next year. "I do think it will be closer," he concluded. "People are understanding the cars a lot more. And, yeah, over time all the teams will just edge closer.
"We know over the winter, we really have to keep pushing and keep trying to find performance and not only performance, understanding, possibly the tyres even more, because the tyres will change a bit for next year. So yeah, let's see how we are going to manage all of that."
