Max Verstappen has previously said a lack of motivation could see him retire when his Red Bull contract expires in 2028; Verstappen leads the F1 drivers' championship by 125 points from team-mate Sergio Perez going into the summer break
Monday 31 July 2023 13:30, UK
Max Verstappen has admitted his winning streak in Formula 1 "keeps the fire going" after another dominant performance at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Verstappen started from sixth at Spa-Francorchamps, due to a five-grid place penalty for a fifth gearbox, but took the lead by the end of Lap 17 and won by 22 seconds from team-mate Sergio Perez.
It gave the championship leader his eighth consecutive victory, which puts him just one behind Sebastian Vettel, who holds the record of nine wins in a row.
"I'm definitely enjoying the moment but at the same time I know that this one at one point will stop, so we need to enjoy keep learning keep trying to improve and I'm trying to implement it again for the next race," Verstappen told Sky Sports F1.
"This keeps the fire going. If I have to rock up and I have no chance of winning then the fire starts to go away.
Asked if he will be in F1 for a while, he added: "It depends what we what we keep doing every single year but this year, it's looking great. Next year is again a completely different year."
Red Bull have won the last 13 races, stretching back to the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and are 256 points ahead of Mercedes in the constructors' championship going into the summer break.
Despite being unbeaten this season, Verstappen, who is 125 points in front of Perez in the drivers' standings, feels there are always areas to improve.
"It's not so much about learning about myself, it's just always wanting more and I'm trying to look at every single situation what you could have done better," he said.
"I know that how I've been brought up as well to always want more and always look at details. Even when people say that it's great or amazing, there are always things that can be done better.
"And I also know that I've been on the other side of it where you're trying to hunt for victories and you always come short, because you just don't have the package or whatever."
Verstappen is set to become just the fifth driver in F1 history to win a hat-trick of titles - Juan Manuel Fangio, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton are the other names.
Christian Horner lauded the 25-year-old for his performances, which he thinks nobody on the current grid can match.
"He is levels of superiority over everybody at the moment. What we are witnessing with Max at the moment is something you see once in a generation," said Horner.
"Like all the great drivers, he has that extra capacity. His ability to read a tyre, read the race and extract absolutely everything out of it, it's great to see. He's at the top of his form at the moment."
Formula 1 returns after the summer break with the Dutch Grand Prix and all sessions will be live on Sky Sports F1 from August 25-27. Stream the biggest sporting events with NOW
