F1 fans think Max Verstappen may retire from F1 sooner than expected after Chinese GP radio outburst

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Fans are under the impression that Max Verstappen will retire from F1 as soon as the summer break following the Dutchman’s most recent outburst over the Red Bull team radio.

Max Verstappen’s ongoing frustrations regarding the new technical regulations have cast doubts over whether he will continue to see out the rest of his Red Bull contract or call it a day in F1 and pursue other categories of motorsport that are more aligned with what he likes.

During the Chinese Grand Prix race weekend, his frustrations boiled over into the radio communications he had with his Red Bull race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase.

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They began on lap 34, 11 laps before the four-time world champion’s eventual retirement from the race due to a coolant leak. The disagreement seemed to have stemmed from a miscommunication between the two parties.

Verstappen was clocking in lap times around the 1:37.450 range when the disagreement started. After clarifying that he didn’t need to lift and coast at turn six in Shanghai, his lap times quickly dropped by around four tenths of a second.

Unhappy with the costly error, Verstappen fired over the team radio to Lambiase, “Doing half the race lifting, why no one tells me?”

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F1 fans think Max Verstappen may call it quits at the summer break amid ongoing frustrations

After the transcript of Verstappen’s heated radio exchange with Lambiase reached social media, fans were in agreement over the longevity of the Dutchman’s career in F1.

The overwhelming sentiment is one of pessimism for Verstappen seeing out the rest of his contract at the Austrian constructor, with the majority of fans speculating that he will retire at the midway point of the season.

One fan wrote, “All this talk of Max retiring at the end of this season due to the new regs… Honestly, I don’t even know if he will see out the full season. He’s really, really p—– off.”

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Another sees the summer break as the perfect opportunity for Verstappen to depart from the F1 grid, commenting, “I think Max will give them until the mid-season break to figure it out. If the car is still s— by then, he’s gone.”

“Max seems to be the exact kind of person who doesn’t do what he doesn’t want to do,” said one user. They also added, “If he leaves mid-season, I’m sure there are people he pays a lot of money to deal with all this on his behalf so he can sit back.”

Endurance racing seems to be Verstappen’s new love, and that’s exactly where fans think he will go. One fan wrote, “If things keep going the way they are, I could see it happening at summer break. He can just fully commit to endurance racing, and maybe take Alonso with him.”

While another agreed, posting, “The car is complete s—. Max is going to hit his escape clause by summer break at this rate, at which point he’ll switch to literally any other motorsport and dominate it.”

One F1 fan summed it up succinctly with, “Verstappen is going to retire mid-season at this point.”

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Is it possible for Max Verstappen to leave Red Bull mid-season?

If he were to indicate his desire to leave Red Bull in favour of a rival, he would first need to trigger a performance-based clause in Verstappen’s current contract, which is set to expire in 2028.

If the four-time world champion is below second-place in the F1 standings by the summer break, he can unilaterally exit at the end of the season.

While this is looking increasingly likely in the current landscape of the grid, a move to another team would have to take place upon the conclusion of the season.

On the other hand, Verstappen is free to retire at any time, but he would be sidelined by a gardening leave period, which would prevent him from immediately finding another seat on the grid.