Max Verstappen F1 new: Red Bull boss opens up on champion and 'retirement talk'

Max Verstappen, Laurent Mekies, Red Bull, China, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

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Red Bull F1 boss opens up on 'retirement talk' with Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen has had a poor start to the season with Red Bull

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Wednesday 1 April 2026 18:59

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Max Verstappen's Red Bull boss has hit back at claims that the four-time world champion is ready to walk out of Red Bull and Formula 1.

Red Bull have endured a poor start to the season, with their car working with Ford for the first time in their new inhouse powertrains not producing the results they expected.

Indeed, Verstappen's season has seem him finish sixth in Australia, a retirement in China and an eighth place finish in Japan.

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While Verstappen had hopes of competing for the world championship, he is now stuck in ninth place and already 60 points down on standings leader Kimi Antonelli.

The situation has followed Verstappen criticising the new rules and regulations in F1, while also producing speculation that the Dutchman could walk out on Red Bull and even F1.

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But Laurent Mekies is convinced that Red Bull and F1 can make the necessary changes to keep Verstappen in the sport and at the team he has driven for since 2016

"I have full confidence that, as a sport, we have the tools to tweak the regulations so that they come back closer to flat-out qualifying, while keeping all the positive aspects we’ve seen from the racing in the first couple of races, Mekies told the Beyond the Grid podcast.

"I think if we do that, I have every confidence that Max will keep seeing what we all see: that you still have the best 22 drivers in the world there, you’ll have the fastest cars on the planet, and it’s the most competitive environment. And he’s ultimately a competitor.

Mekies also insists Verstappen is working strongly with the team to turn around their frustrating start to 2026 as well as wanting to do everything he can to make F1 a better sport for him to compete in.

"We are not having the retirement talk with Max right now. We are having the hardcore analysis of how to go faster with our car. And he’s passionate about the sport, and he wants to contribute to the sport and make sure it lands in the right place.

"Hence, he’s vocal about the tweaks he thinks we need to do, again, as a driver, to make sure that he can be flat-out in qualifying and to make sure he can have good racing. And we are not having a retirement discussion.

"You need to come to Milton Keynes to see, as we said, the fire behind every door. And you will soon realise why I’m smiling right now, because we don’t think about our driver market in 2027. We think about getting a fast car. And if we get a fast car, there is no discussion about what Max is doing next year."

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Laurent Mekies