He believes that Piquet has “talked more than enough about that” over time, with the 71-year-old having taken three titles of his own during the 1980s.

Max Verstappen: ‘There is more to life’ than talking motorsport

Having spent his entire career in a paddock and Piquet having done the same before his retirement, Verstappen also thoroughly enjoying racing in the virtual world in his spare time, he says that his conversations with the former Brabham and Williams driver often do not centre around their common professional ground.

This comes out of respect for Piquet’s life of having spoken about his time in Formula 1 and motorsport at large, and the Red Bull driver acknowledged “there is more to life” than that.

“I don’t want – and especially when I’m at home – to know everything that’s going on in the paddock,” Verstappen explained to Dutch magazine Formule1.nl.

“That certainly also applies to family visits in Brazil, when I see my father-in-law. Then we really don’t talk about motorsport.

“He has talked more than enough about that in his life. At a certain point, you don’t feel like talking about it anymore, you’re done talking about it.

“I do understand that, there is more to life.”

Verstappen has made no secret of his desire to try out other racing categories in future, having set out his goal to set up a GT racing team in his own name by 2025 after entering Verstappen.com Racing liveried cars in DTM this season.

He also hopes for a tilt at endurance racing eventually, but is unsure about whether or not a full separation from the sport is possible.

When asked if he could see himself distancing himself from motorsport completely one day, Verstappen responded: “That’s possible in theory, but no, at the moment I can’t imagine it.

“I am still in the middle of it now and we are working on all kinds of things, including Verstappen.com Racing.

“We’ll all see what the next few years bring. But believe me, at 74, we won’t meet again in the paddock.”