Button: “I don’t think Verstappen is the type to take a sabbatical”

The future in F1 Formula 1 will return to the track after a long break in the first weekend of May, during which the Miami Grand Prix will take place. It will be precisely at this event that the new technical rules established in the meeting on 20 April in the presence of the FIA, FOM, CEO of the engine manufacturers and team principals will be officially operational. In the first three rounds of the world championship, Max Verstappen had expressed his disappointment on several occasions with the regulations introduced this season, combined with Red Bull’s moment of crisis. At the end of the last Japanese GP, the four-time world champion was also very clear about his future, so much so that he considered retiring from F1. Gap year? According to other rumours, however, Verstappen is considering the possibility of taking a sabbatical, even if this option does not convince at all another world champion such as Jenson Button, winner of the world title in 2009. According to the Englishman, speaking on Sky F1, the Red Bull driver would evaluate other options: “Personally, he doesn’t seem like the type to take a sabbatical. Either he races or he doesn’t race. If he wants to stop and do something else, that’s fine. himself, but I think this will be his last ‘career’ in F1. I don’t think he’ll take a year off and then come back. I don’t think this is the Max I’ve come to know.” In addition, Button considered another aspect relating to Verstappen’s future, this time linked to the departure of his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, who will join McLaren in 2028: “Just a few weeks before the announcement of Lambiase’s move to McLaren, Max said: ‘I can’t even imagine racing with him by my side’. There is a lot to expect from the driver market in the coming years. Max will always be the center of attention because at the moment he drives a car that does not offer performance We’re used to seeing it in our heads, but now it’s not.”

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News
2026-04-29 22:00:00