'We'll get other drivers' - Ford's defiant Max Verstappen promise

Ford Racing global director Mark Rushbrook has said that it's not the be all and end all to have Max Verstappen at the Red Bull F1 team in the future.

Verstappen is a four-time world champion of the sport and has been at Red Bull since 2016, but his long-term future with the team has been called into question in each of the last two seasons.

Regulation changes are sweeping into the sport in 2026, and it's thought that Verstappen will see which team have mastered those regulations before making a decision on where he will drive in 2027.

Red Bull are starting a new era of power unit production alongside Ford Racing from 2026 onwards, and they are being headed up by a new team principal in Laurent Mekies and without key figures such as Helmut Marko and Christian Horner.

Verstappen and Red Bull will hope that they can have a car fast enough for the Dutchman to challenge for the title in 2026, but if they don't then his future could be more rigorously speculated upon.

Now, Rushbrook has said that Verstappen leaving the team would not wane Ford Racing's commitment to F1 as a power unit partner.

"He's a generational talent," Rushbrook told Motorsport.com. "Having a champion behind the wheel with a Red Bull-Ford power unit is important, right? We believe in the team, we believe in the power unit, and we believe in the people who design the car. But ultimately, it's the driver who has to extract every ounce of performance. And we believe Max is a champion.

"Max is an important part of the team, but not to the point where we're saying, 'If he leaves the team, then we're leaving too.' No, we have faith in the team and know that other drivers will arrive in the future."

Will Verstappen leave Red Bull?

Questions about Verstappen's long-term future will surely only intensify as the 2026 season progresses, with a number of teams not having tied their drivers down beyond the end of 2026.

Time will tell as to whether Red Bull and Mekies can convince the Dutchman to stay during the team's rebuilding phase.

2026 will be the first year in Red Bull history without Horner or Marko, while design legend Adrian Newey recently left the team and ex-sporting director Jonathan Wheatley quit to join Sauber back in 2024.

Mercedes are rumoured to be the team best placed to master the regulation changes, and they have been the team most strongly linked with acquiring Verstappen's services in the last two years.

On top of that, Newey's new team Aston Martin have also been linked with a 2027 swoop for Verstappen, as they look to become a championship-challenging outfit in the future.

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