Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen will also sit in the Red Bull in the coming season. “Yes, I can confirm that Max Verstappen drives for Red Bull in 2026,” said MotoSport consultant Helmut Marko on Monday at RTL/NTV and Sport.de. The Dutch “Telegraaf” had previously reported on the continuation of the engagement.
As the Dutch Telegraaf, which was usually well informed, had previously reported, after the Grand Prix of Belgium, an exit clause in Verstappen’s contract, because the defending champion will definitely be below the top three of the driver’s ranking at least until the summer break.
Verstappen is currently fourth in 28 points from Mercedes driver George Russell. Even in the event of a failure of Verstappen and a victory in Russell at the upcoming race in Hungary, the Briton was still three points ago. A poorer placement than third place would have given Verstappen the chance of an early change, his contract at Red Bull runs until 2028.
Verstappen is 81 points away from the top
In Spa, the 27-year-old celebrated the sprint on Saturday, but was only fourth in the Grand Prix on his favorite route. Verstappen races was also complicated due to the decision of the FIA, just under 80 minutes later due to rain. “We changed the setup yesterday and hoped for more rain. With the balance of the car and these conditions are simply no longer in it”said Verstappen at RTL.
The route quickly dried off after the forced break, after which he could no longer be dangerous to Ferraris Charles Leclerc in third place. In the overall ranking, Verstappen is now a whopping 81 points behind leaders and Spa winner Oscar Piatri with 185 points.
Mercedes relies on Russell
In any case, as part of the weekend, everything indicated a continuation of the cooperation between Verstappen and Red Bull. At Sky, he had emphasized that he was “generally very happy” there and that it was the goal of “driving his career for the Austrian racing team to the end”. In view of Red Bull’s sporting descent, it is always speculated about an exit.
Mercedes would have been a top favorite for a commitment. The silver arrows apparently want to continue with Russell and Talent Kimi Antonelli. The likelihood of going into the 2026 season with this driver pairing was “90, 95 percent,” said team boss Toto Wolff. Depending on how long the contracts will be extended, Verstappen could possibly become a topic for 2027.