Closer to retiring than changing teams - why Verstappen stayed at Red Bull

After signing a contract extension with Red Bull to 2030, Max Verstappen says he was "closer to retiring" from F1 "than changing teams". The news conference that followed the announcement of Max Verstappen extending his contract at Red Bull until the end of 2030 was approaching its final moments when a light-hearted remark got to the crux of his decision. "I was closer to retiring than changing teams," Verstappen said. The four-time champion has been facing existential questions this year about his future in Formula 1. The first was triggered by the new engine regulations introduced this year - did he even want to continue racing in this form of motorsport? The second followed on - if so, did he want to stay at the team that has been his home since the start of his journey at the top level of the sport? The announcement that Verstappen had added two further years to a contract that already lasted until the end of 2028 has put both questions to bed, to a degree. But the first more than the second. Three races into this season, after the Japanese Grand Prix, the frustrations of driving the new hybrid engines of this year boiled over in Verstappen. The need to constantly recover energy to power the batteries, the impossibility of doing so to the extent that they are fully charged at all times, and the artificiality that had been introduced into the racing as a consequence, were too much for the Dutchman after a race at Suzuka, arguably the greatest circuit on the calendar. "Is it worth it?" Verstappen pondered out loud. "Or do I enjoy being more at home with my family? Seeing my friends more when you're not enjoying your sport?" By 2028, the split between internal combustion and electrical power will be 60:40 in favour of the internal combustion engine, when it is more like 53:47 now.

That will reduce - but not eliminate - the energy starvation suffered by the engines, and as a consequence make driving the cars feel more enjoyable. Verstappen is the purist's purist. He wants to drive on the limit all the time. So it was total anathema to him having the engines run out of battery power, robbing them of 470bhp, before the end of long straights, needing to recover energy through the fastest corners, and having power off-sets between one car and another decide overtakes. In May, he had an experience that underlined to him what F1 had lost, to his mind. He raced a Red Bull-branded Mercedes AMG GT at the Nurburgring 24 Hours, and he was nothing less than sensational, particularly in a first stint that took the car he shared with two other drivers from 10th to first. Only a late driveshaft failure robbed him of victory. Since Japan, the complaints of the drivers - Verstappen was far from the only driver to express his discontent - have been heard by the sport's bosses. Tweaks to the rules are being introduced over the next two years, to increase the proportion of the total power output of the engine coming from the internal combustion side. At the last couple of races before the summer break, which is brought to an end by this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix, a softening of Verstappen's tone in F1 was discernible. And on Thursday he confirmed it. "After the first few races, I said to Laurent [Mekies, the Red Bull team principal], 'Don't come to me with any kind of questions about the future'. Because I didn't even know if I wanted to stay," Verstappen said.

"I love racing. I had a lot of very good discussions with F1, but also with the FIA. And I think we are slowly working towards something that becomes better and better. "Also from my side, of course, I adapted. I accept the situation that we're all in and just trying to make the best of that. "Also with the year that I signed to, it again opens up the door maybe, you know, when potentially the V8s come in to look at that again as well." That is a reference to ongoing discussions about the next engine regulations, due to come in by 2031 at the latest. It says something about the mess the sport has got itself into with the latest engine rules that discussions about the next ones, due in five years' time, started even before the first race of the new power-units. The FIA, the sport's governing body, was primarily responsible for the issues with energy starvation that have caused so much angst this season. They were warned by teams and drivers for the last two years or more that this energy starvation situation would become an issue. But they did not listen, instead focusing on adding ever-more complexities to the rules to try to address some of the consequences of it. Now, though, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is pushing new rules that would effectively turn back the clock in F1 by a decade and a half - he wants naturally aspirated V8s, ideally with no hybrid at all, or just with some electrical window dressing. This approach misses the point somewhat, as it is not hybrid that is the issue, but the relationship between recovery, battery capacity and deployment. It also introduces other problems, such as what would be a significant increase in the amount of fuel cars needed to start the race because the engines would be far less efficient.

⚡ Effects Interpreter