Red Bull's Max Verstappen will continue with the Austrian based team for the 2026 season, after making the decision at the Belgian Grand Prix. The racer's contract with Red Bull has been a hot topic for more than 18 months, with Mercedes showing interest.
Amid the power trussell within the Red Bull, there have been reports that the four-time F1 world champion was keen to move away from the side. Right from the start of 2024 season, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has been in regular touch with the dutchman and his representatives regarding the move.
As per reports by Eric van Hasen of de Telegraaf, Max decided to stay with Red Bull for 2026 but left the opportunity for an exit in 2027. The Dutchman has a contract until the end of the 2028 season, but certain exit clauses might give him the chance to leave earlier.
With this, Wolff is set to go with his pair of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli and might sign a new contract with both drivers in the coming weeks. The two Mercedes drivers will be out of contract after the end of the 2025 season.
Max Verstappen said that the ineffectiveness to manage their tires was one of the their weakness of the RB1 after he was not able to leave Ferrari's driver Charles Leclerc during the Belgian Grand Prix 2025.
“It was just very tough to pass. At one time, I was really close going into Eau Rouge, but you lose so much downforce when you are behind. The car becomes really unstable, so you couldn’t really keep it on the road. We went onto the slick tyres and to be honest, every lap, I just felt that Charles was pulling away a little bit," said the Dutch driver.
“Of course, I always try to get into the fight, but today, partly because of the rear wing that we chose because we hardly did any wet laps in the end which generally, I think is a shame. I think we could have gone racing. That’s not ideal but the biggest problem is still how we keep our tyres alive in the race. We’re just not strong enough on that,” Max added.
Max Verstappen now sits 81 points behind McLaren's Oscar Piastri in the driver standings with half of the season concluded.