Max Verstappen announces definitive F1 sabbatical decision

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen announces definitive F1 sabbatical decision

Verstappen opened up further on his future

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Monday 1 June 2026 08:26

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Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen has made a decision on whether he will take a sabbatical from a sport.

There are several different ways pundits and fans have speculated on a Verstappen exit, whether leaving Red Bull for a rival team or the sport entirely.

At the beginning of the season, it was revealed that Verstappen was 'seriously considering' retiring from F1, but confirmed his future in Canada after changes to the engine rules.

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From 2027, the split between electrical power and the internal combustion engine will tip back in favour of the latter to 60/40, to ensure the more natural way of racing is returned.

Speaking to the press, Verstappen explained: "I just want a good product in Formula 1. And that will for sure improve the product.

"Hopefully that will happen next year. That will already help a lot, because I've always said it doesn't matter if I had a good car or not. It's just the product. And I think the product will improve like that, so naturally I think the enjoyment will go up as well."

Would Verstappen take an F1 sabbatical?

Another option for Verstappen's future is a sabbatical, which could see him leave F1 for a brief period of time before returning at a later point, perhaps when he is happier with the state of the sport.

In a recent interview with Dutch publication De Telegraaf, Verstappen was asked if he considered this option.

To this, Verstappen replied: “No, not a sabbatical. I’m not that sort of person. If I stop, I’ll stop completely. But that’s not on the cards at the moment.”

Verstappen interested in pure racing

After the Canadian Grand Prix, Verstappen once again called F1 'anti-racing' and revealed his preference for more 'pure' racing series.

He said: "60/40 [power to battery ratio] is the minimum [I’d be happy with]. I know how pure other motorsports can feel like. So then, when you come back to this, it's just, yeah, not very nice."

"I don't want to be too negative now after a race like this, but I know what it feels like to drive pure racing cars and pure overtakes, pure racing, and just natural driving.

"This is all a bit like very anti-driving, anti-racing. Yeah, and that's not what Formula 1 should be about. So, I really hope that next year we can get that 60-40 because that will naturally help everything a bit."

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen