Max Verstappen told BBC Radio 5 Live after the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka that he is rethinking his future in Formula 1 because he is “not enjoying” the sport under the new regulations.
He said his unhappiness is not down to Red Bull’s lack of competitiveness early in the season after the sport’s biggest rule changes. “I can easily accept to be in P7 or P8 where I am,” he said, noting he understands drivers cannot always fight for podiums. “I’ve not only been winning in F1.”
But he added that racing from seventh or eighth place while not enjoying the format “doesn’t feel natural to a racing driver.” “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.”
Verstappen, who won four consecutive drivers’ titles from 2021–24 and lost last year’s championship by two points to Lando Norris, said money is no longer the issue: “At the end of the day it’s not about money any more because this has always been my passion.”
He described how, as a child, he imagined racing for the love of it rather than financial reward: “You never think about that as a kid. I want to be here to have fun and have a great time and enjoy myself. At the moment that’s not really the case.” He said he still enjoys aspects of the job—working with his team, which he called a second family—but that sitting in the car has become “not the most enjoyable unfortunately.”
Verstappen highlighted energy management demanded by the new hybrid systems as the main issue. The cars now require repeated battery recharges several times per lap, causing drivers to lose speed approaching corners at the end of long straights as the power unit runs out of battery and recharges. That effect can create dramatic position changes—overtakes followed by immediate re-passes—but Verstappen dislikes how those moves are produced by differing battery-charge states between rivals.
Describing an attempt to pass Alpine’s Pierre Gasly for seventh, he said: “You can pass around here, but then you have no battery for the next straight. So I tried once just to have a look, but then of course Pierre immediately got by me again on the main straight and I think that was basically the story of today. You can pass, but then you get re-passed.”
Verstappen made his F1 debut in 2015 at 17 and became the youngest race winner at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. Asked about his future, he said enjoyment is fundamental to committing fully to a sport: “You hear it from a lot of sports people… It all starts with actually enjoying what you’re doing before you can actually commit to it 100%.” He added that although he is trying and still giving his all, the current situation “is not very healthy at the moment because I am not enjoying what I’m doing.”
He said critics could view his comments as mere complaints because the car is not performing, but he sees it differently. One alternative he mentioned is sports-car racing: he plans to enter this year’s Nürburgring 24 Hours and is developing GT3 projects, including running a team. “It’s not like if I would stop here that I’m not going to do anything. I’m always going to have fun. And also I will have fun in a lot of other things in my life,” he said, while admitting it is “a bit sad” to be discussing leaving F1.
Verstappen also hinted at the influence of rule changes on his decision, addressing F1 bosses directly: “They know what to do.” F1 officials are due to meet during the four-week gap between the Japanese Grand Prix and the next race in Miami to discuss rule adjustments, including allowing drivers to push flat-out in qualifying. The need to address energy management and its effect on driving is widely regarded within the sport as a problem that must be fixed.
Verstappen has had a difficult start to the 2026 season, finishing sixth in Australia and retiring in China, and his comments underline growing tensions over how the new regulations have altered the character of on-track racing.
