F1 News Today: Red Bull questioned as Max Verstappen tipped to join exodus

Red Bull have been questioned over their decision to announce that Yuki Tsunoda would no longer be in the seat for 2026 before the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Teams announcing drivers will be leaving before they actually leave has become in recent years, with Lewis Hamilton completing a whole season at Mercedes after it had been announced that he would be leaving.

But might the Tsunoda announcement have hampered Max Verstappen's chances of winning the F1 world championship?

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Max Verstappen will leave Red Bull as part of exodus

Verstappen hasn't lost the world championship because Lando Norris is a superior driver, he has lost it because he doesn't have a car good enough to challenge McLaren. The best drivers don't stick around in poor cars if they have options to move elsewhere.

Max Verstappen's talent means he could probably walk into any F1 team on his terms. That's bad news for Red Bull because the trajectory and omens up to now don't bode well for 2026 and beyond.

The question remains: Are Red Bull still good enough for Verstappen?

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Max Verstappen mugs McLaren to win FIA award

Four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen beat both McLaren drivers to a special 2025 award at the FIA prize giving gala in Uzbekistan.

Verstappen may have lost out to McLaren's Lando Norris in the drivers' championship this year, missing out on a fifth consecutive title by two points, but the Dutchman was still honoured by the FIA.

The 28-year-old was absent from the prize giving gala due to illness, with the evening celebrating all of the FIA's various racing series around the globe.

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New FIA president elected as only candidate... and still didn't win all the votes

You would think if you stood as the only candidate for an election you would win 100 per cent of the votes right?

Well, that's not how things roll at the FIA as they announced their new president on Friday.

Due to some outrageous technicality, Mohammed Ben Sulayem ran unopposed to win a second term, and yet he still couldn't mop up all the votes.

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Max Verstappen's new team-mate 'smashed TV' over Abu Dhabi 2021

Max Verstappen's new F1 team-mate Isack Hadjar has revealed the surprising stance he took when watching the highly controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hadjar has impressed at Red Bull's junior team in his rookie F1 campaign and could be a future star of the sport having also proved himself as he rose through the ranks whilst signed to the Red Bull driver academy over the past four years.

But despite his Red Bull affiliation, the 21-year-old hasn't always supported the energy drink giants, and has made no secret of the fact that seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton is his true hero. And Verstappen's 2021 title win over Hamilton caused quite the reaction from Hadjar.

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Government discussions underway for African F1 return

Discussions for the return of an F1 African grand prix are reportedly taking place in governments across the continent, according to Italian-Swiss banker Christopher Aleo.

Aleo is the founder of iSwiss financial group and an F1 enthusiast who is set on ramping up the project of bringing Africa back to the sport's ever-growing calendar.

South Africa has been the main country being talked up for a potential African GP, but there are others in the mix too.

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