Mexico surprised: 'Will Verstappen possibly quit soon because of Perez?'

At the moment, Max Verstappen is in a league of his own. The Dutchman seems this early in the season to be on his way to his third world title in a row. The competition is probably eagerly looking forward to 2028, the year when Verstappen's contract with Red Bull Racing expires. In Australia last week, the champion said, not for the first time, he is condsidering to retire in '28.

Verstappen previously said that the amount of travelling and therefore the limited time he can spend with his family are a something he hates. In Melbourne, the driver added to that old statement that he feels Formula 1 is in danger of losing its DNA if the set-up of a Grand Prix weekend is changed too much. Verstappen, for instance, is not a fan of sprint races. Too many changes would be a reason to end his career in F1 in 2028.

Own spin given

Verstappen's words have been heard in Mexico too, although with it's own original twist. Esto, the Central American country's main sports website, suspects that Verstappen has no appetite for more sprint races for fear of his current teammate Sergio Perez. According to the site, sprint races ensure that there are more chances for competitors to snatch points from Verstappen. Since your teammate is your biggest opponent, Esto suspects, Verstappen will therefore fear Perez taking advantage more than anyone else.

At the end of the month in Baku, the first sprint race of the season is scheduled. For Perez, it will be important to score a nice number of points in the battle with Verstappen for the world title. The Mexican medium is confident that the 'Minister of Attack' (and thus no longer the Minister of Defence) will come home with a good result. Finally, Esto argues, Perez has had two strong races. In Melbourne, according to the site, he came back handsomely from a pit-lane start and in Saudi Arabia he 'dominated' Verstappen.