Could this possibly indicate an impending sabbatical from F1…?
He's expressed his interest in doing other types of racing for quite a while now (even when fighting for championships and in his ultra dominant year). To me it very much looks like what 2026 will be like to drive. A competitive car could possibly sway him to stay longer but if they're entirely uninteresting I wouldn't put it past him to take a sabbatical and enjoy GT3, Daytona 24, Le Mans and possibly the odd nascar race here and there.
I've been thinking he'll take 2026 off for awhile. As @Bas says, if he has a competitive car it may change things. I do not think he likes the 2026 rules though. I also think Max would like to do LeMans with Fernando Alonso. Max has a contract until 2028, though it is written he can get out if the car isn't good enough. Alonso is supposed to drive with AMR in 2026. So contracts might hinder their plans.
The best advert for GT3-based series: VLN, DTM, SRO GT World Challenge (Europe, USA, Asia), GT Open, GT Masters, etc ...
I think ol’ Maxey boy could drive a 499P at LeMans in 26, if he takes a sabbatical. He wanted a feel of the Ferrari V6.
We've seen so many other drivers try other racing series and flop. Max goes out and sets a lap record in a basic test in an afternoon? That's unbelievable.
Post Imola 2025 Race Image Unavailable, Please Login Tweet— Twitter API (@user) date Tweet— Twitter API (@user) date
The guy is a machine. Casually rocking up to the NEC 24 track day and getting the (unofficial because not a race weekend) lap record, with fuel and traffic...for that layout is hugely impressive. Some GT3 drivers clearly stepped on their toes as they thought he must've used a different BoP but that was shot down very quickly as a pointless exercise. Fast forward a few days and once again a mega quali, jumps into his trackside rig and wins the NEC race on iracing, beating the fastest lap by a second. Might not seem so impressive but when you consider the skill level of that field is ultra high and essentially all mitigating factors are not there (drivers weight, random mechanical failures etc) and the guys he's racing against practised for weeks and weeks for just this event and Max does it as another sidequest... Then goes on to win the F1 race the next day. And he's quite happy because the football team he follows won so he can get drunk tonight. Beast.
[motorsport-total] “on his sixth lap, verstappen was clocked at 7:48.999 minutes - more than half a second under the official track record.” they confirmed max’s unofficial laptime record at nürburgring. Image Unavailable, Please Login
6 laps is all it took. 6!!! His very first time at that track. I guess the 296 GT3 was secretly build PURELY for Max so that no one else can drive it though
