'I hope he’s in my car' - F1 star wants Max Verstappen switch

Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen has received glowing praise after a fellow racing star backed the Dutchman to become his team-mate.

The 28-year-old currently finds himself at a crossroads in his F1 career, 10 years on from becoming a Red Bull driver.

He may have four drivers' championships and 71 grand prix victories under his belt with the energy drink giants, but it has become clear that Verstappen is losing faith in Red Bull, and he has already looked elsewhere to get his fix of racing glory in 2026.

Verstappen returned to the Nurburgring in March where he initially stormed to victory with the Winward Mercedes-AMG team before they suffered a disqualification due to a tyre rule breach.

Despite being stripped of his race win, Verstappen's foray into the Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) provided him with valuable track time ahead of his Nurburgring 24 Hours attempt next weekend (May 14-17).

But what's more is that it came as a welcome distraction for the Dutchman who is currently at odds with F1 over the 2026 regulations, which despite recent tweaks, he is still rallying against.

Dutch media claimed earlier this year that Verstappen is 'seriously considering' retirement over his dislike of the new F1 rules, but who's to say an F1 exit would mean a departure from motorsport as a whole?

F1 HEADLINES: Verstappen to Mercedes could fall apart, Russell behaviour called out

Verstappen would 'kick everyone's a**' in WEC

Ford Performance director Mark Rushbrook recently revealed that the American company are having 'regular discussions' with Verstappen about getting him more involved in sportscars, including hypercar.

No introductions were needed between the F1 champion and the Ford chief given that Red Bull welcomed Ford into their F1 project ahead of 2026 as part of a long-term strategic technical partnership, a linkup that saw the creation of Red Bull Ford Powertrains.

So a potential WEC debut with Ford would make sense, especially as Verstappen has been far from shy over his ambition to one day compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours, something Rushbrook himself said Ford would 'love to see'.

And it seems they aren't the only ones keen to see Verstappen make the switch to the FIA's endurance racing series.

Ex-F1 driver Logan Sargeant currently competes for Red Bull's F1 partner Ford in WEC, and is the latest racing star to weigh in on a potential partnership with Verstappen.

This year, Sargeant races in the LMGT3 class, but for 2027, it has been confirmed that the ex-Williams F1 driver will join Ford Racing's Hypercar team in WEC.

And the American has certainly welcomed the news of a potential WEC entry for Verstappen in the future, even going as far as to suggest that the four-time champion should join him as a team-mate.

"Well, if he is driving, I hope he’s in my car!” Sargeant said with a laugh during an interview with Motorsport.com.

"That’s for sure. In my opinion, Max is the best to ever do it. So if I could share a car with him, that would be a huge privilege and a huge advantage."

Asked to give further details on said advantage, Sargeant replied: "Well, he’s the quickest driver in the world. He’s going to most likely kick everyone’s a**. I’d rather that be in my car than the other."

Adopting a more serious tone, the 25-year-old then continued: "It goes so much beyond just driving style, seeing what he’s doing with the tools, lap in, lap out, how he’s making adjustments… obviously, he has so much experience from Formula 1.

"For him, it would just be like plug and play. There’s so much you can learn from someone like that.

"You don’t win four world championships without the speed he has. You see it, even when he’s not in the best car, he still finds a way to make it work. That can’t be said for everyone."

READ MORE: Red Bull F1 chief designer 'kicked out' in shock exit

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

View full biography

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

Lewis Hamilton reposts bizarre AI video of rapping car ride with Max Verstappen and co

• Yesterday 22:30

F1 on TV: How US fans watch the Azerbaijan Grand Prix this weekend live and FREE

• 2 hours ago

Cadillac announce huge triple signing as top Red Bull star joins US F1 team

• Yesterday 21:45

Kimi Antonelli avoids F1 penalty despite surprise engine change at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

• Yesterday 20:56

F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve delivers incredible verdict on new Monaco sprint race

• Yesterday 19:55

Briatore to Ferrari? Controversial F1 legend on 'the lover everyone would love to have'

• Yesterday 18:57