Max Verstappen continues to cast doubt over his future in Formula One beyond his current contract which expires in 2028.
The reigning world champion is signed with Red Bull in a contract which still has five years to run, by which time he'll be 31. He debuted in the sport as a teenager and will have spent well over a decade as part of the grid, earning himself a reputation as one of the modern greats along the way.
Verstappen has never been shy of speaking his mind and has expressed his concern at the current direction of the sport, which continues to expand. The growing fanbase means Formula 1 bosses have added more races and changed the configuration of the race weekend - which the Red Bull star is not in favour of.
All the travel has been cited as an issue by the Dutchman, who admits motivation - or a lack of - may play a factor when he decides on his next move later down the road, while also saying Red Bull's competitiveness and his willingness to compete in Le Mans could be deciding factors.
He told Sky Sports : "I know that I will be 31 when it's the end of my contract. At that point already I will have been in F1 a very long time and it's a lot of work. It's travelling a lot, not only the races but in between you're travelling to the factory, you have marketing commitments and I'm really a person who loves to be at home.
"I like to be competitive, and I like to win but if you can't fully motivate yourself to get to every race, then that's the point you have to question yourself, 'do you really want to continue?'"
Despite Formula 1 being considered the pinnacle of motorsport Verstappen has suggested his involvement stops him from exploring other avenues. Fernando Alonso has managed to balance his commitments whilst also winning Le Mans and having a go at the Indy 500.
Verstappen is keen to follow his lead, but is prohibited by being involved in Formula 1. "I love doing Le Mans, I love doing other 24-hour races, I love watching the GT3 cars go around the Nordschleife," he added.
"All these kind of things I want to experience in my life and I don't want to be doing them when I'm 40 or 50 because then I'm not at the peak of my performance. When I'm 31, I'm pretty sure I'm still capable of doing great things."
Verstappen is already a back-to-back world champion and is looking well set for a third on the bounce given his early season form and the pace of the Red Bull. He would become only the fifth man in the history of the sport to do so.
The 25-year-old, who won the Monaco Grand Prix at the weekend, will also assess where his package is when it comes to renewing his contract. Mercedes and Ferrari are looking to close the gap at the top, but having a winning car could alter the Dutchman's thinking.
He said: "It also depends a bit how competitive we're going to be over here in 2028." If Red Bull were dominating, Verstappen confessed: "I think it would be very hard to leave, for sure."
