F1 champion Max Verstappen proclaimed 'kingmaker' over Red Bull exit saga

Credit for photo: Red Bull Content Pool — Photo: © IMAGO

Max Verstappen

F1 champion Max Verstappen proclaimed 'kingmaker' over Red Bull exit saga

How likely is a Red Bull exit for Max Verstappen?

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Thursday 14 May 2026 10:57

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Max Verstappen has been named as F1's 'kingmaker', where a potential Red Bull exit could cause a 'domino effect' of driver switches.

While Red Bull and Verstappen enjoyed a turnaround in performance at the Miami Grand Prix thanks to a raft of upgrades, speculation will always shroud the Dutchman's future if he's not in a title winning car.

It appears no matter how well George Russell or Kimi Antonelli perform Verstappen Mercedes remains a tangible possibility, as too does McLaren, given Gianpiero Lambiase's departure to Woking.

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On the High Performance Racing podcast however, hosts Jake Humphrey, former Ferrari race engineer Rob Smedley and ex-F1 boss Otmar Szafnauer questioned the narrative Verstappen will inevitably leave Red Bull.

Are Red Bull on the rise?

Smedley started by identifying Verstappen as the 'kingmaker' on the F1 grid, and that if he changes teams he will unleash a raft of driver changes.

"The kingmaker is Max and he should be as well, so wherever Max goes to, let's just say there's a single ground truth in all of this, Max will want to go to the best team that gives him the best chance of continued success and multiple world championships," he explained.

"That will then start a whole cascade of dominoes, a domino effect of drivers moving about after that.

"If we went through every single permutation, we'd be here a long time. So I think the ground truth is let's wait and see what Max does and then everything else will fall in behind."

Humphrey then interjected and pointed to Red Bull's improved form: "Why wouldn't Max just stay at Red Bull?"

"They bought what they call the Macarena wing for Miami. They said they've been working on it since November. I think that's cool in itself. That car looked almost as fast as any other car that weekend. He drove amazingly well. He knows the team. He seems happier there than he was midway through last season.

"If Red Bull get that car up to the speed of the Mercedes and the McLaren, why wouldn't you. Why are we constantly talking about Max leaving? Why wouldn't Max stay?

Szafnauer urged caution, particularly given Mercedes' plan to introduce upgrades in Canada, and added: "I think you're right. Best car, best driver. Again, that's a big if. Remember, we just said Mercedes are going to bring a big upgrade in Canada. Let's see what happens. That gap might again increase.

"I think, I could be wrong, there's more potential for improvement on the Red Bull Ford powertrain than there is on the Mercedes. I think Mercedes are already up there. So, there's that. And then there's the chassis side."

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen