Max Verstappen future hangs in the balance as Red Bull deadline looms

With so many uncertainties about the 2026 F1 campaign, Max Verstappen's future hangs in the balance.

Next season, the sport will undergo another major regulations overhaul designed to bring back closer wheel-to-wheel racing with cars that are both smaller and lighter.

As F1 nears the closing stages of the 2025 championship, the teams and their drivers have six rounds left to give their all before the sport and the competitive order is completely reset.

Mercedes have been tipped as the outfit who have the best chance of mastering the new era, but the reality is that no one knows how the 2026 regulations will impact the championship order until next season rolls around.

Next year, we could very well see champions like Verstappen struggle, and if Red Bull do turn out to be a constructor who fails to hit the ground running, there is one thing the Dutchman will be grateful for- an experienced team-mate.

Verstappen’s 2026 team-mate will be integral to his future title chances. Granted, he is somehow still mathematically in contention for the drivers' championship this year, but his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda? All the way down in P17 as things stand.

Who should be Verstappen's F1 team-mate in 2026?

2025 has been a tumultuous year for the Red Bull F1 team. After sacking Sergio Perez as their second driver at the end of 2024, junior driver Liam Lawson was promoted, but he only lasted two races before being sent back to Racing Bulls.

So, have the team learnt from this mistake? Apparently not, with Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar believed to be on the main team's radar for a move up next season.

The 21-year-old impressed at the Dutch GP by joining Verstappen on the podium, the first of Hadjar's career, but both Tsunoda and Lawson also impressed in the junior team's machinery before being handed the premature promotion, and it seems Hadjar is at risk of a similar fate.

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko previously stated that the energy drink giants had until October to decide who would join Verstappen next season, whilst Hadjar's boss Alan Permane revealed just last month that the decision would come: "much later in the season."

In 2026 and beyond, Verstappen needs a team-mate up there with him who can take points away from rivals in a championship fight. If he has another team-mate like Tsunoda it may cost him a title.

If the 28-year-old doesn’t win the championship in 2026, that could end up coming back to bite Red Bull, with the four-time champion much more likely to assess the rest of the field and consider a move away from the squad in that scenario.

Recent reports have claimed that Hadjar is likely to move to Red Bull next year and that the decision will be taken after the Mexican GP later this month, but that could trigger the beginning of the end of Verstappen's time at the squad if it proves true.

What Hadjar needs is time to develop and become a real asset to Red Bull for when the day does come that they can no longer rely on their star driver.

And Verstappen? He needs a trusty No.2 just like Perez once was, someone that can disrupt the standings and bring home consistent points, even race wins, to help create a disparity between the Dutchman and his future title rivals.

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