Max Verstappen secured his fourth consecutive World Championship in Las Vegas this season, and with it came the announcement that he’s soon to become a father — and that he doesn’t intend to compete in Formula 1 forever.

As such, his recent appearance on the team’s Talking Bull podcast seemed largely reflective, as Verstappen issued a direct message to all the people he’s worked with at Red Bull over the years.

What Max Verstappen most appreciates about Red Bull Racing

At the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, Max Verstappen’s shoulders bowed under pressure.

That weekend, he had been promoted to Red Bull Racing partway through his second F1 season, which he’d started with the junior Toro Rosso team. Pressure had always been high for Verstappen, who had been launched into the top tier of international open-wheel racing as a teenager. Moving to Red Bull, he knew he needed to impress the team, lest he face an early demotion or sacking himself.

That weekend — his first in a Red Bull Formula 1 car — Max Verstappen won his very first Grand Prix.

It was the sign of things to come for Verstappen, who, at 27 years of age, has just secured his fourth consecutive Championship title in a season where he had to fight against his own car just as hard as he was fighting against the competition.

Soon after he secured his title in Las Vegas, Verstappen also announced that he and girlfriend Kelly Piquet are expecting their first child together, which raised conversations about the Dutch driver’s future plans: Namely, that he doesn’t intend to compete in Formula 1 forever.

Understandably, Verstappen seems to be in an era of deep reflection — and this showed on a December 26 episode of Talking Bull, the official podcast of the Red Bull Racing team.

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In the episode, Max Verstappen joined Talking Bull’s host at the team’s technology campus to take questions and reflect on his impressive career — starting with that very first win with the team after being asked what some of his proudest moments in the sport have been.

“Winning my first race was great,” he reflected, “because I just joined the time in my first weekend, and you’re nervous it isn’t gonna work out on a top team. You don’t know.

“But that was a great start; it just calmed everything down a little bit at the time. So I was very proud of handing that weekend and the pressure in general.”

However, Verstappen’s pride extends far beyond his own capabilities as a driver.

“I’m also just really proud of working with so many incredibly talented people, because anything else that I will ever do in life racing-related, I think, will never come close to what we have done so far, and I’m very well aware of that,” he said.

“I’m also really trying to remember the moments that we had together, that we have already achieved, and hopefully also moments to come.”

Later in the conversation, Verstappen was asked if he’d like to directly address the staff of Red Bull Racing — if there was anything he’d like to tell them. And there certainly was.

“I’ve been already working for a longer period of time, and when I joined here I was a proper rookie,” he responded, beginning with a bit of reflection.

“Just seeing what the team already had achieved up until then, it was seriously impressive to be part of that. And of course, in the beginning, we had a few probably tough years because [Red Bull] went from championship-winning years to then years where we were constantly fighting to get back up there. And not always entirely our fault, I would say.”

But what kept him going was the people.

“But just the atmosphere, I could always be myself,” he told Talking Bull.

“I really like the team atmosphere, a lot of nice people. I think that is so important — to be part of a team where you can be yourself and you can have a good time.

“We are all here to try and win and try to do well. We try to be the best of yourself, but at the same time, these years fly by.

“I think once you stop, you also want to look back and realize that you actually had a good time while doing it.

“That’s what I appreciate with the team, the people. They’ve always been super nice to me, very supportive, and I’m just very thankful to be part of the team.”

It’s an atmosphere that has certainly allowed Verstappen to flourish as both a driver and a person. Red Bull’s confidence in Verstappen has been rewarded time and again — and, as the driver states, his success is a direct result of that confidence. It’s cyclical.

Will that cycle continue into 2025, a season that will see an upheaval of Verstappen’s personal life? We can’t know for sure; but we do know he’ll be supported in his pursuits.

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