Sabbatical a way to go for Verstappen? 'Someone with his ability can take a year out'

According to the Briton, Verstappen has the skills to take a year off. "He has won four world championships, he's won god knows how many races, he could sit back this new regulation. Nobody knows what's on the other side of the end of this season, what is going to happen. He could sit back next year and go, ‘Okay, I can see which way the future's going to go for the next 10 years'," he said in the Chequered Flag podcast.

He believes that Verstappen would be a very much in-demand driver, and the best team 'would find the money' to sign him afterwards.

Ahead of the 2026 season, a new regulation change will take place in Formula 1, where the cards can be shuffled quite easily. A year out would allow Verstappen to find out which team are the best.

Hill continued: "I'm saying it's an option. If it's unclear, and if Red Bull have not convinced him that they have the wherewithal to keep up the level of performance that he's been used to, then why would he race for a team that's not competitive? He doesn't have to."

"He's young enough, I think, to take it. It's hard in this game, but someone like of his ability, he could take a year out and it would be like, no time has passed. He'd slot straight back in again," he complemented the Dutchman.