Max Verstappen fears revealed by F1 insider with Red Bull exit still in play

Davidson over Mercedes-duo Verstappen en Antonelli: 'Zou heel goed werken' — Photo: © IMAGO

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen fears revealed by F1 insider with Red Bull exit still in play

Exit clause, anyone?

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Saturday 8 August 2026 20:56 Updated: 12:48

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Max Verstappen is still a Red Bull driver despite the near-constant rumours about his future with the team, but those rumours just don't seem to be going away.

BBC Sport's F1 correspondant Andrew Benson is among the latest to discuss the four-time world champion's future, and explained some of the contributing factors on the Chequered Flag Extra podcast this week.

Benson pointed out that it's not just a lack of pace that's concerning the Dutchman, but specifically the fact that the car's handling issues have been repeated into the new regulation set in 2026.

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Mercedes and McLaren appear to be the two possible destinations, with Aston Martin dropping back over the last six months thanks to their dreadful car, and Benson laid out a light roadmap for Verstappen going to either.

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"The car is not where they want it to be," he said, "and I think from Verstappen's point of view the concern is that it's the same fundamental handling imbalances, unpredictability, inconsistency, that he's been experiencing in that car for the last two or three years.

"He's a bit worried that that's happened across two regulation sets, and that's one of the reasons he's contemplating his future. Does he move from Red Bull? He's contracted to the end of 2028 but he will be free to leave at the end of this year if he wants to be because of performance clauses. Are there options that he could take? It looks like there could be.

"Mercedes have been courting him for a couple of years, it looks like they'll probably stay with Antonelli and Russell, but will they really when it comes to it? McLaren, Piastri and Norris are under contract but we know that the contracts aren't worth the paper they're written on in in Formula 1 if someone really wants to change, and this is Max Verstappen we're talking about.

"He could stay where he is, but he's got concerns at the moment and he wants to see evidence that Red Bull are on the right track before he absolutely commits for another year, so they definitely need to improve on the chassis side."

Who could replace Verstappen at Red Bull?

Later in the podcast, conversation turned to Carlos Sainz's situation at Williams, with Benson claiming: "He's hoping for Red Bull. He's hoping that Max will leave Red Bull and there'll be a seat open there and he'll get it."

Alice Powell interjected and said that she believes Red Bull would promote Arvid Lindblad if Verstappen were to leave, to which Benson replied: "I think what'll happen...if Verstappen leaves Red Bull, he's only going to two places.

"He's either going to Mercedes or McLaren. I think that whoever he replaces at Mercedes, which would be Russell, or McLaren, which would be Piastri, would just go straight into the Red Bull."