Max Verstappen Says His F1 Career Is Already More Than Half Over

Three-time Formula 1 World Champion and current drivers' championship leader Max Verstappen is only 26 years old, but he said ahead of his home race — the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort — that he's already on the back 9 of his F1 career.

Despite his young age, Verstappen will be appearing in his 200th career Grand Prix this weekend, which led to a question about whether or not he planned to get to the big 4-0-0, which, given the fact that F1's calendar includes well over 20 races every season, can be accomplished in less than a decade.

Verstappen kept it short and sweet.

"No," he said, per ABC News. "So we passed halfway for sure, but it’s been already of course an incredible ride. It doesn’t feel like 200, but of course, we’re doing a lot of races now in a year, so you add them quite quickly."

Max Verstappen said that he is closer to the end of his Formula 1 career than he to is the beginning. (Getty Images)

So… you're telling me we won't see Verstappen on the F1 grid into his 40s like Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso, and Lewis Hamilton?

Honestly, I don't think this is all that surprising. Verstappen has said things that made him seem disillusioned with Formula 1 over the years and has expressed a desire to explore other forms of racing.

Can you blame him? The dude has been F1 since he was 17. 

We know he's a big sim racer, so it stands to reason he'd want to try his hand at sports cars, especially the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Verstappen has been under quite a bit of stress this season as other teams in the field — McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari — have all given Verstappen a run for his money.

This weekend will be interesting. It's the first race after the summer break, and it's not uncommon to see the grid get a shakeup around this time.

Verstappen has never lost at Zandvoort, and we're going to see plenty of orange in the stands this weekend, but it'll be interesting to see if the McLarens especially can maintain their pace and give Verstappen a run for his money on a circuit that can be tricky to overtake on.