"In 2026, Max Verstappen won’t be at Red Bull" - F1 insider claims iconic partnership is coming to an end in 2025
F1 pundit Robert Doornbas has said it would be difficult for Red Bull to keep hold of Max Verstappen after the 2025 season. The Dutch driver won his fourth consecutive driver's world championship with the Austrian team after he finished P5 at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix. After he won his first title in 2021, he signed a long-term contract with the world champion constructor which would see him race for it until the end of 2028.
However, while appearing on the Crash in the Kitchen, Doornbad believed it would be tough for Red Bull to keep Verstappen in the new engine regulations in 2026. He said (via PlanetF1):
“It will be difficult for Christian Horner to keep Max Verstappen on board. Did you expect him to say something different after winning a fourth-world title? What more do you need to develop it [the car]? The regulations don’t change. You can’t expect to get a completely different concept car.
Believe me now: in 2026, he won’t be there. Lewis Hamilton did not have the best car aerodynamically and mechanically for seven years [at Mercedes]. They had a cannon of an engine. I think you need that in 2026.”
The 27-year-old driver has been with the Milton Keynes outfit since the beginning of his F1 career and joined the senior team in the middle of the 2016 season.
F1 world champion gives his take on Max Verstappen potentially leaving Red Bull
Jensen Button has said that Max Verstappen's current situation with Red Bull is a bit "tricky" given that the pair maximize their results every weekend. However, according to the F1 world champion, the car does not have the inherent performance of previous years.
While appearing on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, the 2009 world champion pointed out that the Austrian team had slipped down the order, saying (via Crash.net):
“They’re probably the third-best or fourth-best team at the moment. It is tricky. Max Verstappen said we’ve not had the best car since the seventh or eighth race but they still haven’t closed on me in the championship. Maybe he’s making more of a difference. As a team, they’re still great but they just don’t have the performance in the car like we’ve expected over the last three and a half years.
If they start like they are now, it puts a lot of pressure on drivers to maximise every weekend. Maybe he will look elsewhere. They’ve given him so much over the last few years in terms of performance. He doesn’t want to leave a team that’s given him so much but he’s got to think about himself.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff publicly sought Verstappen in the 2024 season before the team settled on Kimi Antonelli as its replacement for Lewis Hamilton.