{"id":290518,"date":"2023-04-27T21:57:43","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T21:57:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=290518"},"modified":"2023-04-27T22:58:35","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T22:58:35","slug":"world-champions-80-million-formula-1-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=290518","title":{"rendered":"World champion's $80 million Formula 1 threat"},"content":{"rendered":"

World champion Max Verstappen<\/a> has doubled down on threats to quit Formula 1<\/a> \ufeffwhen his current contract expires in 2028.<\/p>\n

Verstappen, who is a heavy favourite to become just the fifth driver in history to win three consecutive world titles, says changes to the sport could drive him away.<\/p>\n

This weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix<\/a> is the first of five races in six weeks, and also the first appearance of the sprint format for 2023.<\/p>\n

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There's 23 races on the calendar this season, and F1 bosses continue to make noises about adding further events in future years.<\/p>\n

"I have to be careful what I say now," Verstappen said.<\/p>\n

"I always said that even if there wouldn't be any more sprints, if we keep expanding the calendar and the whole weekend is that long, at one point you question 'is it worth it?'<\/p>\n

"I do like racing, I like winning, I know the salary… you have a good life. But is it actually a good life? Sometimes, you get to the point of your career where you want to do other stuff."<\/p>\n

In 2022 Verstappen signed a long-term deal with Red Bull, reportedly worth around $80 million a season.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"Max<\/p>\n

"I am contracted to the end of 2028 and then we will review again. I do feel that if it is getting too much then it is time for a change," he said.<\/p>\n

"You always have to be talking to yourself, looking at yourself – 'are you still motivated?' and at the moment that is definitely the case but there will for sure be a point where you want to do other stuff as well.<\/p>\n

"Sometimes, this sounds very weird for people on the outside … you're in Formula 1, you are winning – I would have probably said the same when I was in their position but when you are in it, it is not always how it looks or what people think.<\/p>\n

"Yes, it is great, it is amazing and you can do a lot of things but there is always a limit to certain things."<\/p>\n

Verstappen has a 15 point lead over teammate Sergio Perez in the race for this year's championship.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em>\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

World champion Max Verstappen has doubled down on threats to quit Formula 1 \ufeffwhen his current contract expires in 2028. Verstappen, who is a heavy […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":290522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290518"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=290518"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":290524,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290518\/revisions\/290524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/290522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=290518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=290518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=290518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}