Max Verstappen Red Bull replacement: The three potential options for 2027

Max Verstappen at Suzuka — Photo: © IMAGO

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Max Verstappen Red Bull replacement: The three potential options for 2027

Is Max Verstappen going to leave his F1 team?

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 17 April 2026 08:26

All this talk of a Max Verstappen exit from Red Bull ahead of 2027, but who would step up to fill the massive hole left behind by the four-time F1 world champion's departure?

Verstappen's long-term future at Red Bull has been called into question in each of the last two seasons, with Mercedes having publicly pursued his services in both 2024 and 2025, despite the fact that he's under contract until 2028 at Red Bull.

But the Dutchman's future has been in even more jeopardy at the start of 2026, with Red Bull hovering around the midfield, and Verstappen not enjoying the new regulations that have swept into F1 in 2026.

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Verstappen is reported to be 'seriously considering' retirement from the sport at the end of this season, but besides where that would leave F1 and their new era, where would it leave Red Bull? How would they cope if Verstappen decided to retire or switch teams?

Who would replace Verstappen at Red Bull?

Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz's career has taken an unusual path since he left Red Bull's sister team back in 2017.

The Spaniard has raced with four different teams since then, with his most successful spell as an F1 driver coming with Ferrari between 2021 and 2024.

Despite not doing too much wrong and claiming four grand prix wins and 25 podiums in that time with the Scuderia, Sainz was replaced following the 2024 season by Lewis Hamilton, with the appeal of having a seven-time world champion in one of their cars too much for Ferrari to resist.

It left Sainz having to settle for a seat with Williams, despite having been a candidate to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull in 2024.

Williams performed well in 2025, allowing Sainz to claim two grand prix podiums and a sprint podium in his first season with the team, and a fifth-place constructors' championship finish probably led Sainz to believe that he had made the right decision.

But this year, Williams are nowhere near the podium positions. It looks as though the team are going to struggle to score points at most race weekends, and Sainz could well be looking for a move away once his contract expires at the end of the season.

Red Bull could offer him that way out, should Verstappen opt to leave the team at the end of the year.

Sainz is still just 31 years of age, and could still offer a lot to a top-four team (if Red Bull manage to remain as one). Let's not forget, his last season at Ferrari in 2024 was his best, claiming multiple grand prix victories in a season for the first time.

A stunning return to the team where he was a junior racer could be on the cards for 2027.

Lewis Hamilton

Just as Verstappen might leave Red Bull, there is every reason to suggest that Lewis Hamilton will no longer be a Ferrari driver in 2027.

Hamilton has finished behind his team-mates in the drivers' championship in three of the last four seasons, culminating in an 86-point defeat by Charles Leclerc last year.

Hamilton has started 2026 in better form, but is still behind Leclerc in the drivers' championship, and Ferrari might just be beginning to think they can get someone in to do a similar job to Hamilton but at a fraction of the cost.

Ollie Bearman, for example, would not have a base salary of $60million per season. Hamilton is only actually contracted with Ferrari until the end of this season and, if he doesn't opt to retire, then he could be looking for a new team.

Following his performances in recent seasons, there's no guarantee that one of the 'big four' teams would take the gamble on an expensive, 41-year-old Hamilton.

But Red Bull may not even finish in the top four in the constructors' championship this year, and it could be the step down that somebody with the career of Hamilton deserves before he officially retires from the sport.

Red Bull would snap him up for a season or two for all of the marketing opportunities that come with having Hamilton at their team, while the seven-time champion would go there with the hope that Red Bull become a dominant outfit once again, as they were as recently as 2022 and 2023.

What's more, he would be driving alongside his number one fan Isack Hadjar, crafting the youngster into a better all-round racer.

It's a win-win situation, and could be last chance saloon for Hamilton and his hopes of an eighth world championship.

Arvid Lindblad

This is probably the option that makes the most sense, with Arvid Lindblad being a Red Bull youngster already.

The British-Swedish national is just 18 years of age and three grands prix into his F1 career, but Lindblad has looked the part so far in his rookie season.

He's already claimed his first points in the sport, has out-qualified much more experienced team-mate Liam Lawson on one occasion, and even knocked Verstappen out of Q2 in a humiliating turn of events at the Japanese GP.

Red Bull promoted Hadjar after just one season at their sister team Racing Bulls, and it would be a possibility to do the same with Lindblad, if they feel as though he's ready.

There is an argument to say that they need an experienced star in at least one of their cars in order to maximise performance now that they are in the midfield, but writing off the next season or two and focusing on building a really strong, youthful driver lineup for the future could be the best long-term play.

Red Bull could build Lindblad and Hadjar up over the next couple of seasons to the point that once the team have a better car, both drivers are ready to challenge for race victories and world championships.

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Written by

Sam Cook - Digital Journalist

Sam Cook is a talented young sports journalist and social media professional who now specialises in Formula 1, having previously worked as a football journalist and a local news reporter for a variety of different brands.

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F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Carlos Sainz Arvid Lindblad