The Formula 1 season is not yet five races old and the Silly Season is still running hot. The focus is on world champion Max Verstappen again. Really ends his red Bull era in the coming year? A look at the most likely scenarios on the future of Verstappen.
The biggest domino, no, the royal figure of Formula 1 is called Max Verstappen. The poker for the most important player of the motorsport king class has been fully flared up. Everyone looks at the defending champion. The rumor mill cooks up: does the Verstappen escape actually come?
A change has a lot of explosive potential and would trigger a Formula 1 earthquake.
After the first four Grands Prix of the 2025 season, it is clear: the World Cup title defense will be a Herculean task for the successful Max Verstappen and Red Bull. McLaren has passed, Mercedes also looks stronger than in the previous year, Red Bull always shows the rear.
Already last year there was plenty of speculation about a change of Verapens. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff flirted publicly. Father Jos Verstappen also rumbled publicly against RB team boss Horner, who in turn found himself in the dispute with senior consultant Helmut Marko (or is?). A tricky situation.
The starting problems of the RB21 fuel these rumors again. The big question that moves Formula 1: Where will Verstappen drive in the coming season?
The 27-year-old himself sits on the long lever and can probe the location in peace. What that means explains RTL-In -expert Christian Danner:
“He now has Unlimited Access. He gets what he wants now, now and in the future. If he says tomorrow I would like to drive Ferrari, I would not be sure which Ferrari man flies-Leclerc or Hamilton-but one flies 100 pro.”
Or second example: “If he says tomorrow I want to go to Aston Martin, then the Fernando Alonso retired or say Lance Stroll, he should take a year break.”
And if Verstappen announced Toto Wolff and Mercedes tomorrow, “the same applies – all the impossibilities are open to him.”
A lot appears possible in Formula 1 2025. These are the most likely Verstappen scenarios:
Verstappen stays with Red Bull
Trust is actually great. Verstappen has already spent his entire career at Red Bull Racing and became a four -time world champion there. As a teenager, he opened the A team via Toro Rosso and wrote history from then on. His contract is still running until 2028.
The problems are obvious, however: the RB21 is no longer the best and fastest racer in the field. Motor, aerodynamics, balance, pit stops. At the moment almost nothing fits. The concern with Helmut Marko and Co. is therefore “big” that Verstappen could soon take off.
“A marriage, like between Verstappen and Red Bull, is a successful one that you don’t leave Hoplla Hopp. There are many intermediate stages,” says expert Danner. “It is of course problematic because the car doesn’t do what Max wants.” The short -term prospects are not rosy. “In Dschidda it will surely go into the sequel.”
The team wants to roll out an update for the race in Imola (May 18). TV expert Ralf Schumacher recently reported rumors that a change would probably be likely if the upgrade should not ignite.
The racing team is now required. After Adrian Newey’s departure, RB has to prove to his top driver that he can provide him with a World Cup-compatible car. Otherwise, the Verstappen escape could become a faster reality than swearing on the radio.
Verstappen changes to Aston Martin
Aston-Martin-Boss Lawrence Stroll born around Verstappen in the previous year. According to “Daily Mail”, the team owner even offered the Dutch a billion -dollar deal. The mega contract should crack the billion mark in the total volume and with team shares. The racing team denied, but the rumors remained.
The question is: make the British Verstappen a good offer that it simply cannot refuse? This always seems possible.
At Aston Martin, Verstappen would meet his old companion Adrian Newey. The design guru built countless world championship cars from the red bulls, including those of Verstappen. An important argument. Verstappen has also had the best experience with engine supplier Honda, who will start with Aston Martin from 2026. “It is pure speculation. But for Verstappen it makes sense to work with the people he knows,” says Danner.
Newey only started with Aston Martin this spring. The team will still need time until the desired results are adjusted. It would certainly be a good starting point for a change. Especially since Aston Martin is then exclusively equipped by Honda, whose engines Verstappen have been able to use its titles.
What also speaks for the racing team: Aston Martin has been upgrading massively in the World Cup fight for years, building a new state-of-the-art factory and wind tunnel facility on the island, taking a lot of money in hand and also spoke openly about the World Championship. The big words would look at big deals like with Verstappen.
Lawrence Stroll would probably not hesitate for a second to commit the Dutch and put old master Fernando Alonso at the door.
Mercedes snaps away
The advances of Mercedes and their team boss Toto Wolff were the most violent last year.
The Austrian would have loved to have brought the Austrian to the silver arrows as the successor to Lewis Hamilton’s record champion. It turned out differently.
In the meantime, Wolff is almost strikingly defensive. “We stand by our drivers,” he said three weeks ago, at least on the rumors. But could he really say no in the event of a interest in the publisher? Most experts doubt that. “Toto Wolff has often emphasized how much he would have liked to have and that there was somehow a solution. When this solution actually occurs is the next question. It may take a year longer,” said Danner.
In fact, the driver constellation has a lot of discussion. Because Wolff actually found his pilot duo with George Russell and Youngster Kimi Antonelli.
Russell’s contract expires at the end of the season. Recently, however, reports that Russell would get a contract extension. A farewell therefore seems unlikely.
Antonelli only has a spa contract, but is considered the great jewel for the future. In the case of a potential yes word from Verstappen, Wolff would stand before a explosive question: Who out of the cockpit? Russell has World Cup ambitions, has been in a team for three years and actually the clear number one with the greatest title opportunities.
However, if Wolff would take out Antonelli directly again, there would be the next Zoff couple in Formula 1 with Russell/Verstappen.
At the end of last season, Verstappen and the Briton fought a rather large mud fight and overwhelmed with lies. The background was a dispute over an action in Qatar qualifying. The relationship between the two has been considered disturbed since then.
This evokes memories of the heated Mercedes phase between Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in the 2010s. Does Wolff feel like it again? On the other hand, there was a lot of title at the time.
What Mercedes speaks: For months, rumors have been kept that the engine is extremely strong for 2026. This development will also have a look at Verstappen.
Conclusion for the future
If Verstappen comes to the conclusion that he can no longer drive around the World Cup in the Red Bull, a farewell will be quite likely. Mercedes and Aston Martin are the best options. The latter can lure Newey and financial options with the arguments, Mercedes with the currently even better car and the racing and success tradition of the silver arrows. Exit open.