Guenther Steiner claims F1 champion Max Verstappen will be in the 'best car'

Credit for photo: Red Bull Content Pool — Photo: © IMAGO

Max Verstappen

Guenther Steiner claims Max Verstappen will be in the 'best car'

Max Verstappen may be seeking to leave Red Bull in the future

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 30 December 2025 09:11 Updated: 14:04

Former F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has said that Max Verstappen 'will be in the best car' in seasons to come.

Verstappen's Red Bull team have finished third in each of the last two constructors' championships, but Verstappen still managed to win the drivers' championship in 2024, and came within two points of doing the same in 2025.

Lando Norris won the 2025 title in his much more dominant McLaren machinery, but Verstappen did finish above one McLaren in the standings, with Oscar Piastri in third.

Article continues under video

Verstappen's narrow title loss has arguably raised his stock in the sport even further, with the Dutchman remarkably winning the most grands prix - eight - in a season in which another team had wrapped up the constructors' championship by early October.

His 2025 form has also led to question marks surrounding his long-term future at Red Bull, however, with Mercedes linked with his services in each of the past two years.

It has been suggested that Verstappen will leave Red Bull should the team not be able to provide him with a championship-contending car when new regulations sweep into the sport in 2026.

Now, Steiner seems to have agreed with that sentiment, with the former Haas boss stating that, wherever it may be, Verstappen will be in the fastest car one way or another.

"I think that Max will be in the right car," Steiner told the Red Flags podcast. "So he will continue with the success. I think he's very smart and surrounded by smart people.

"I think that his contract is open and whoever has got the leading car wants Max Verstappen and they will make it happen. Max will be in the best and if not the second best car."

Red Bull's new era

Red Bull are hoping to keep Verstappen for as long as possible given he is the most sought after name of his generation.

The fact that Yuki Tsunoda only managed 30 points across 22 race weekends in 2025 in the same car as Verstappen shows the importance of the Dutchman to the Milton Keynes-based outfit, and there's no doubt that they will be doing everything in their power to keep him.

One way in which they are hoping to do that is by creating a new era at Red Bull, one that they very much want him to guide.

Long-time team principal Christian Horner was sacked earlier in 2025 and replaced by Laurent Mekies, who has overseen a more harmonious environment at Red Bull.

Motorsport advisor Helmut Marko was another man who had been at the team since their inception into the sport in 2005, and he has also now retired.

Red Bull will be hoping that Verstappen, too, is excited by the new project, particularly with the team set to supply themselves with power units from the 2026 season onwards, in partnership with Ford.

Mekies' number one priority in 2026 will be to prove to Verstappen that they are the team with whom he can claim more world championships with in the future.

F1 HEADLINES: Red Bull star linked with shock exit as chief issues statement

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Guenther Steiner