George Russell believes Max Verstappen wants to prioritise racing somewhere more for fun now he is not winning in Formula 1, and his departure from the grid would be understandable as he has "ticked all the boxes".

Verstappen has been a vocal critic of F1's new 2026 rules, which he has derided at various points as "Formula E on steroids" and like playing Mario Kart, while Red Bull's poor start to the season has compounded Verstappen's frustration.

After the previous race in Japan, Verstappen openly floated the prospect of quitting F1 at the end of the year for the first time, and his disenchantment with modern F1 has led him to pursue GT racing opportunities on the Nurburgring Nordschleife.

He made his debut there last year, and won, and is now preparing for a first 24-hour race at the famous track next month.

"He's achieved what most drivers dream of, which is winning a championship - he's got four of them," Russell said of Verstappen.

"I guess you get to a point in life where there's not much more for him to achieve in F1. He's ticked all the boxes.

"Maybe he can go after the records but knowing him as I do, and knowing drivers who have achieved similar things, at one point you want to do what puts a smile on your face.

"I can totally understand why driving the Nordschleife puts a smile on his face. I've driven hundreds of laps around the Nordschleife on the simulator, and I would love to have that chance to go and race around the Nordschleife!

"But my goal now is to become a Formula 1 world champion. If I have four of them under my belt I'd probably be doing the same.

"He's in a very different stage of his career and I think you'd understand if he stayed and you'd understand if he went."

Verstappen insists his dislike of the current engine formula is rooted in what he believes F1 should be, and that his competitive desire comes second to his personal enjoyment.

However, Russell compared it to when Mercedes struggled in the previous ground-effect era and criticised the cars while Verstappen and Red Bull defended the rules and mostly dominated those seasons.

Russell, who has had various run-ins with Verstappen in recent years and has started 2026 fighting exclusively with Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli for race wins, said F1 is "bigger than any driver" but added: "You wouldn't want to lose Max. We all enjoy racing against Max.

"It's just part and parcel of F1. I didn't enjoy driving the 2022 car when it was porpoising, killing everyone's backs, the cars were big and heavy. The high-speed corners, it wasn't very pleasant to drive around.

"But he [Verstappen] didn't have the same complaints because he was winning.

"Now the complaints he has currently are different to the complaints of Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren because we're at the front end of the grid, and this is only natural.

"And you do understand and recognise the frustration."