Martin Brundle believes the moment Max Verstappen loses his “fiery passion”, even in retiring from a race, that is the moment he is likely to be thinking about leaving Formula 1.
Verstappen was seen in terse discussion with Red Bull staff members after retiring early from the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday – his first non-finish in 43 races – showing how much he clearly wanted to match his remarkable run of 10 wins in a row he set last season.
Max Verstappen retirement moment? When ‘fiery passion’ ebbs away
Verstappen calmed down soon afterwards while speaking to media after his retirement, but his passion in the heat of the moment after leading yet another race was a sign that his love of Formula 1 remains undimmed.
While he has been open in admitting that he is unsure if he will continue in the sport beyond the end of his current contract with Red Bull in 2028, with other interests such as GT and endurance racing that he wants to tick off in his career, Brundle explained that he believes Verstappen will only think about walking away from the Formula 1 paddock when that “fiery passion” begins to dissipate.
“I feel guilty for thinking it, but it was a relief to see a different winning team and driver in Melbourne,” Brundle wrote in his post-Australia column for Sky Sports.
“Nothing against Red Bull or its drivers, they’ve been immense, but the chorus of ‘F1 needed that’ echoed through the paddock post-race.
“Max Verstappen delivered a ‘Max-like’ lap to secure pole position, but Red Bull had to add some front wing set-up for the race, one of the few permissible changes in parc fermé lock down, in order to protect the front tyres from sliding too much.
