Red Bull told Max Verstappen WILL leave if Mercedes form continues

Red Bull F1 team have been warned that four-time champion Max Verstappen could still consider a move to Mercedes if the energy drink giants fail to master the new regulations in 2026.

Ahead of the upcoming championship, Red Bull, Mercedes and the other nine teams are all preparing for the biggest overhaul of F1 regulations in the modern history of the sport, with all but Williams taking to the track in Barcelona recently for the first round of pre-season testing.

Despite the Barcelona shakedown being conducted privately, Red Bull were a huge talking point due to the fact they suffered no major power unit issues across their three days of running.

This is an impressive feat considering 2026 will be the first year Red Bull compete with machinery powered by their own in-house power units, built by their new Red Bull Powertrains (RBPT) division, in partnership with Ford.

And though early testing doesn't give the most reliable picture of the season to come, Mercedes are already being tipped as the ones to watch having proved the reliability of their own engines by putting in a grand total of 500 laps in Barcelona.

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Could Verstappen be tempted by Mercedes dominance?

Whether Mercedes will be the dominant constructor in 2026 or not is yet to be proven, but the Silver Arrows certainly looked strong from a reliability standpoint.

Verstappen's own stints at the wheel of the RB22 didn't go to plan in Spain after his and Red Bull's testing plans were delayed following a costly crash for his new team-mate Isack Hadjar.

After the first week of testing, Red Bull completed 303 laps thanks to their new driver duo, but even Verstappen admitted the car was 'still a work in progress'.

The reality is that Laurent Mekies' squad cannot afford to give the Dutchman anything but the best in 2026 as he looks to reassess his contract based off of how the competitive order looks once the new regulations have fully come into play.

Speaking to RacingNews365, ex-F1 driver and former FIA steward Johnny Herbert has claimed Red Bull will have to do more than simply challenge Mercedes on occasion in 2026, or risk losing Verstappen.

"Challenging is one thing — you’ve got to beat the likes of, say, Mercedes, for example...If they don’t, then he’s going to look elsewhere, because that’s what racing drivers do," said Herbert.

"He’s not there to finish second. His core mentality is to win, and when he doesn’t win, he gets very annoyed.

"But Lewis [Hamilton] is the same. Charles [Leclerc] is the same. George [Russell] is the same."

"They’re competitive animals, like all sportspeople are. Ultimately, it comes down to what they supply."

Verstappen flirted with Toto Wolff and the idea of joining Mercedes in 2025, though he reaffirmed his commitment to Red Bull last summer. The 28-year-old has also maintained that his preference is to remain with one team until he retires from F1, but if Red Bull come out the gates way behind their rivals at the first round in just a few months time, that could lead him to reconsider his future.

When does the 2026 F1 season start?

Verstappen, Red Bull and Mercedes will all be back in action when the 2026 season starts in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix. The first race of the year takes place on March 8 at 3pm local time (AEDT) 4am GMT and 11pm ET. The first round of pre-season tests in Bahrain will kick off on February 11 until 13, before the second round continues from February 18 until February 20.

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