Max Verstappen will have to decide in the next few weeks who he wants to be driving for next season.
The 2026 Formula 1 season is fast approaching, and Max Verstappen holds the key to the driver market.
Verstappen has a contract until the end of the 2028 season, but Red Bull know that measures exist which could see him depart far sooner.
The problem new team principal Laurent Mekies faces is that Mercedes are deliberately leaving both seats open for 2026 in case Verstappen can trigger a get-out clause in his contract.
Mercedes are very keen on signing Verstappen, with both George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli coming to the end of their current deals.
The Silver Arrows aren’t necessarily the only team interested in the four-time drivers’ champion’s services.
Aston Martin are still an option for Verstappen should he inform Red Bull that their partnership is coming to an end this year.
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Photo by Clive Mason/Getty ImagesRed Bull still Max Verstappen’s ‘most likely’ team for the 2026 Formula 1 season
Journalist Andrew Benson was writing in his column for BBC Sport about Verstappen’s next steps.
The Belgian Grand Prix is one of Verstappen’s favourite tracks, but until he gets into the car for first practice on Friday, the majority of the questions he’ll be facing will be about his future.
Benson reports that for Verstappen to join Aston Martin, ‘an arrangement would have to be reached’ to terminate Fernando Alonso’s deal a year early, with Lance Stroll unlikely to be dropped by the team his father owns.
Alonso is excited to be working with Adrian Newey for the first time, which means the two-time world champion is unlikely to walk away from his seat unless he’s offered a ‘very large’ sum.
Benson goes on to say that ‘nothing is impossible’ in Formula 1, as Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari that was announced last year shows.
However, he goes on to write that Verstappen is ‘most likely’ to join Mercedes if he leaves Red Bull at the end of the year.
Benson continued and said that from the ‘little bits of information’ he’s gathered, that at this stage, Verstappen is ‘more likely’ to stay at Red Bull than leave.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if the upcoming double-header plays a crucial role in Verstappen’s thinking.
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‘Obvious’ Red Bull problem lowers Max Verstappen’s chances of victory at Spa
Red Bull still have a deficit to McLaren at almost every track on the calendar, but the battle to be the best of the rest is fascinating.
Ferrari are bringing a new rear suspension to Spa, while the cooler temperatures at the Belgian Grand Prix should suit Mercedes.
Tom Coronel thinks Verstappen faces an ‘obvious’ problem trying to win in Belgium, despite his love for the track.
In previous years, Verstappen has deliberately taken grid penalties at Spa because he’s known he would be able to make his way through the pack with relative ease.
Verstappen’s talent isn’t lacking, but whether the RB21 is up to speed is once again the question mark in the back of his head.