'Is it worth it?' - Verstappen considering F1 future
"I can easily accept to be in P7 or P8 where I am," he said. "Because I also know that you can't be dominating or be first or second or whatever, fighting for a podium every time. I'm very realistic in that and I've been there before.
I've not only been winning in F1. "But at the same time when you are in P7 or P8 and you are not enjoying the whole formula behind it, it doesn't feel natural to a racing driver. "Of course I try to adapt to it, but it's not nice the way you have to race.
It's really anti-driving. Then at one point, yeah, it's just not what I want to do. "And of course you can look at it and make a lot of money.
Great. But at the end of the day it's not about money any more because this has always been my passion. " Verstappen won four consecutive drivers' titles from 2021-24 and missed out on last year's title by just two points to Lando Norris.
However, he has had a difficult start to 2026, finishing sixth in Australia and retiring from the previous race in China. "As a kid this is what I wanted to do and back then I had no idea what I was going to achieve and how much money you make," he added. "You never think about that as a kid.