Max Verstappen has confirmed he will be staying at Red Bull Racing for the 2026 Formula 1 season. Rumors have been circulating for the past few weeks about his exit clause on the contract, Christian Horner’s dismissal and more.
If you were speculating, this is probably not a big surprise as you most likely knew that releasing Christian Horner as the team boss was a key element in Verstappen staying. While there seems to be any admission to that fact, the dots are relatively easy to connect.
The other side of that coin is that there is some credence to the simple fact that Red Bull will be hitting the 2026 grid with their edge power unit and that’s an entirely new product that is untested. Horner’s presence may have been a concern but surely Red Bull’s power unit had to be a large elephant in the room and Verstappen most certainly would have been looking for assurances of performance.
Was the engine the main reason Max was speaking with Mercedes? Or was it Horner’s presence at the team? Hard to know definitively but perhaps it was a little of both. Max said:
“The thing is, people are waffling so much throughout the whole season while the only one that actually can or should speak is not speaking,” he said.
“That’s me, and I do that on purpose because it makes no sense to start throwing things around and actually that should be the same for everyone.
“Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama but for me it’s always been quite clear and also for next year.
“I’m discussing with the team already the plans, the things that we want to change next year so that means I’m also staying with the team for next year and if my boat is next to Toto’s then the boat is next to Toto’s.
“You can have a personal relationship with someone even if you don’t have a working relationship with someone.”
Discover more from The Parc Fermé
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Well of course he’s staying now, the team is his to do so with as he wishes.
May as well call it Verstappen Racing.