Max Verstappen dropped a heavy hint that he is running out of patience with Red Bull after another enforced retirement in Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix.

The 19-year-old Dutchman suggested he is considering his future and is ready to leave following his sixth retirement in 12 races.

“This should not happen with a top team,” he said. “It is unbelievable…”

Asked how many more retirements it would take to persuade him to re-consider his future, he said “not too many.”

Verstappen has been consistently linked with a switch to Ferrari, but remains under contract with Red Bull until 2019.

He started fifth in Sunday’s race, but was forced into retirement with a loss of power on lap eight.

He parked the car in front of thousands of Dutch fans – 80,000 arrived to create a massed ‘orange army’ in a crowd of 125,000 – at Eau Rouge.

“I can’t believe it,” said the son of former Benetton driver Jos Verstappen.

His Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo finished third behind victorious Briton Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes and championship leader Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari.

“It is very disappointing. There are so many fans here and they pay a lot of money for very expensive tickets and then the race finishes for me after eight laps.

“This cannot and should not happen with a top team – to finish like this.”

The Dutch teenager is widely regarded as the outstanding young talent in the sport after winning the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix on his debut with Red Bull after a dazzling earlier spell with sister team Toro Rosso.