Max Verstappen’s comments during the F1 Japanese GP could perk up anyone’s ears, as the Red Bull driver openly discussed the prospects of potentially leaving the sport. The Dutch driver has not been too happy with the sport’s direction in general for some time now.
It has only gotten worse with the new regulations that seemingly neutered a lot of what the elite talents were able to do in these cars. Max Verstappen is one of the drivers who has been vocal against this development, even though it does appear that he’s fighting a bit of a lost cause, as these regulations are set in stone now, with very limited alterations available on the table anyway.
While that is the case, if Max Verstappen does decide it is time for him to leave the sport mid-career to pursue something else, he wouldn’t be the first one to try something like it.
Even in the past, we’ve had F1 icons do the same and leave the sport mid-career to do something else. So, who are some of the names that Max Verstappen might end up emulating if he goes through with this? Let’s take a look.
F1 icons Max Verstappen might emulate if he leaves the sport
#1 Kimi Raikkonen
The year was 2009, and Kimi Raikkonen had a choice to make. His contract with Ferrari was ending prematurely, and his future was in doubt. Either he could accept the offer that was on the table from McLaren or move on from F1 and try his hand at rallying. As it turned out, the Finn had had enough of the sport.
His lack of affinity for the sport had been growing over the years, and in 2009, he had the opportunity to try something else. At the end of 2009, the former Ferrari champion and arguably the most famous driver in F1 at the time moved on from the team and ended up having an interesting foray in rallying and NASCAR before coming back to the sport in 2012.
#2 Fernando Alonso
If there is someone whom Max Verstappen could potentially talk to about moving on from F1, then that has to be Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard left the sport at the end of 2018 owing to a lack of success with McLaren and the feeling of being stuck in an uncompetitive environment.
The driver had committed multiple years to the Woking-based squad, but the team went through its lowest period at the time. As a result, the Spaniard, who had spent 5 years stuck in uncompetitive cars, saw his patience wearing thin.
Realising that there was not much he could do in the current iteration of cars and the way the regulations were set up, Fernando Alonso decided that it was time to make a move away from F1. He raced in the Indy 500, where he impressed one and all on his debut.
Then he went on to win the Le Mans 24 Hours multiple times, and ultimately, this was followed by his becoming the World Endurance Champion. After leaving F1 and being refreshed by the kind of success he had, Alonso came back in 2021 and once again showed everyone what he was capable of in the right car.
If there is one driver that Max Verstappen might look at when it comes to emulating escapades away from F1, it has to be Alonso.
#3 Nigel Mansell
Nigel Mansell’s leaving F1 was an interesting twist of fate, as it was a result of the Brit being disgruntled with the sport and its politics. Mansell had committed multiple years to Williams, and the team ended up producing what can only be described as a revolutionary car with active suspension.
While that was the case, Mansell did have one condition at Williams that involved him not having Alain Prost as his teammate. The two were teammates at Ferrari in 1990, and as fate would have it, they didn’t gel within the same squad.
With Williams signing Alain Prost, Mansell decided it was time for him to leave the sport after winning the F1 championship in 1992. He moved to IndyCar in 1993 and would win the title in his very first year in the championship.
Edited by Charanjot Singh Kohli
