Verstappen in 'close contact' with Horner over future concerns

Max Verstappen has calmed fears about Red Bull's competitiveness heading into the future.

The Milton Keynes-based team have dominated the sport since the start of the 2022 season, and Verstappen himself has been able to break multiple records on his way to three consecutive drivers' championship titles.

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Verstappen has won 19 of the last 21 races in the sport, and will surely cruise to a fourth title in 2024.

However, the future beyond that is not certain for either team or driver. The 26-year-old has been linked with a move away following recent speculation surrounding the Red Bull team, and certain key figures.

On top of this, Red Bull themselves move into a new era in 2026, when they will create their own power units - in partnership with Ford - for the start of the 2026 season, in which sweeping new regulations enter the sport.

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Verstappen not worried about Red Bull future

Now, Verstappen has said that, although it will be difficult for the team to compete against the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari - who have been producing engines for many years - there is no need for them to panic.

"I mean, if I have to speculate about everything, I might be worried if I'm still alive tomorrow, right?," he said in quotes reported by Motorsport.com. "So, I don't really worry about that too much.

"Of course, I am in close contact with Christian about that and the people working there. Everyone's working flat out, so there is no need to panic about that. It's still not 2026.

"We know that it is a very big task, we don't take that lightly. And of course, with so many well-established engine manufacturers, we also don't think it's going to be easy to beat them," he added.

"But we have a lot of good people working on the project and we're very excited about it. So time will tell, of course, where it's going to be."

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