Max Verstappen has been a part of the Red Bull family for over a decade and is their most successful Formula 1 driver of all time.
The 27-year-old is the youngest winner in Formula 1 history and has forged an incredible legacy with Red Bull.
Verstappen has done it all at such a young age that he could still be racing in 2040 if he carries on as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso has.
With the talent he possesses, it’s worrying to think of how many drivers’ championships he might end up with by then if he makes the right career choices.
Interestingly, it appears that isn’t in his plans though and Red Bull staff think Verstappen has set a retirement date already. It would be an incredible revelation.
He could look to move teams before then, but Mercedes may have to postpone a Verstappen move amid a fall in sales and the introduction of cost-cutting measures. Who knows how the next 18 months will pan out?
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Helmut Marko realised Max Verstappen was ‘far ahead’ in 2014 Red Bull talks
Verstappen was a mere teenager when recruited to join Red Bull’s junior programme, which set him on the path to success.
Eric Boullier called Verstappen a ‘GOAT’ candidate already, despite only recently hitting the 200-race mark in the sport.
Red Bull advisor and coordinator of their talent, Helmut Marko, has now recalled his first interactions with the Dutchman back in 2014 on The Inside Track podcast.
“I believe he was 15 years old and when I first met him, normally I don’t sign any driver without knowing him personally,” he said.
“The conversation goes, 20, maximum 30 minutes and with Max I was sitting for an hour and a half. The impression was, there was a very wise man in the body of a 15-year-old boy. He was far ahead already in his development.
“That’s very rewarding [seeing him grow] and in the beginning, I also didn’t think that Max would win four championships. But, it was something special when I saw a race in the wet where only three corners at the Norisring and he was two seconds faster than the other ones, so you saw there is something special,” he continued.
“That he is that good and dominating and becoming one of the best of all, that shows that what we are doing is the right thing.”
READ MORE: Juan Pablo Montoya has one ‘million-dollar question’ for F1 if the FIA issue Max Verstappen a race ban
Why might Max Verstappen finally leave the Red Bull F1 family soon?
Verstappen has been told to ‘think about’ leaving Red Bull and he has been seriously linked with two outfits over the last year or so – Mercedes and Aston Martin.
With two race victories and a 49-point deficit in the title fight, Verstappen has developed a ‘strange’ habit in 2025 and has lost a touch of his consistency.
The RB21 doesn’t have a baseline performance level that is met every weekend. Instead, it can vary from track to track, while McLaren are always at the top.
Without further upgrades, hopes of a fifth consecutive crown are pretty much over at the start of June. It could provoke him to look elsewhere heading into the 2026 F1 regulations.
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