Christian Horner, Red Bull’s team boss, doesn’t believe his star driver Max Verstappen will go on racing in Formula 1 into his 40’s like Fernando Alonso.
Max Verstappen in under contract with Red Bull up to 2028, and has repeatedly hinted that he would not interested in pursuing a career in F1 beyond that, recently also warning that the numerous changes, namely Sprint Races, would make him walk away from the sport.
F1 has witnessed many drivers racing in their 40s like Kimi Raikkonen who retired in 2021, while Fernando Aonso continues to race at 41, with seven-time F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton, currently 38, is planning to extend his contract with Mercedes which will probably see him race on the F1 grid beyond the age of 40.
But that doesn’t mean the Verstappen would be doing the same, and asked about this matter, Christian Horner told Sky Sports F1: “Max is his own man and he’s very, very strong in his opinions and on his outlook on what he wants to do in his life.
How long will Verstappen’s racing fire burn?
“And I don’t see him being a Fernando Alonso and still racing at 41 or 42 years of age, or maybe not in Formula 1, but what his love and passion is, is racing.
“If he’s not racing on track at the moment, he’s racing in the virtual world, he’s driving GT cars for fun, and his passion is just driving and racing, and while that burns within him, he’s going to keep going.
“But how long that burns for, that’s each individual’s own journey, they’ve got to find that out for themselves,” Horner insisted.
One of the factors that may be a put-off for drivers are the longer F1 seasons these days, with 2023 featuring 23 races, which would’ve originally been 24 before the Chinese Grand Prix was cancelled.
Horner said: “23 races is a brutal calendar and it’s tough. It’s tough for the drivers, it’s tougher for the mechanics that are travelling at the beginning of the week and returning on a Monday after an event.
“It is a brutal calendar and it does take its toll at some point,” the Briton maintained.
Verstappen is having a great start to his 2023 F1 campaign, his ninth in top flight, and as things stand for now, is on his way to securing his third successive F1 Drivers’ Crown at the age of 25.