Red Bull<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\nVerstappen has been linked with Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin in recent months and respected Dutch journalist Erik van Haren, who is close to the Dutchman\u2019s camp, believes the reigning world champion could change teams for 2027 if Red Bull are not fighting at the front of the grid next season.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIf in 2026 the car is not good enough, is not competitive, of course after two or three races we are getting these questions again [about Verstappen\u2019s future],\u201d van Haren told The F1 Nation podcast.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure he will think \u2018OK maybe I will leave\u2019 and for 2027 there are a lot of options on the table for Verstappen, with almost everywhere a spot. It\u2019s not definite yet and he has a lot of time to make up his mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if Red Bull is not competitive in 26, I think the chance is still quite big that he will leave the team and drive somewhere else in 27.\u201d<\/p>\n
Verstappen happier amid Red Bull \u2018peace\u2019<\/p>\n
However, van Haren stressed that Verstappen is much happier at Red Bull under the new leadership of Laurent Mekies, who replaced Christian Horner as team principal in July.<\/p>\n
There was tension within the Red Bull camp during the end of Horner\u2019s tenure in charge, with Verstappen\u2019s father Jos and the Briton having a public fallout.<\/p>\n
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Horner\u2019s departure from Red Bull was a significant event for Verstappen, while the team\u2019s fortunes have vastly improved in recent months, boosting his hopes of winning a fifth straight drivers\u2019 title this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first thing you feel and can sense is the different mood in the team,\u201d van Haren explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to be a psychologist to feel and see that. If you are in the hospitality, there is less paranoia. It\u2019s not only because of Christian, you had two sides in the team. That was not a secret. So it was a bit awkward if you were there. That\u2019s completely done.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou feel and see that Verstappen is completely happy with Mekies, the new team principal and the way he works with his engineering background, the way he talks with him, the set-up changes they\u2019ve made, the philosophy changes they\u2019ve made.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new floor in Monza was a good direction, but that was already planned months before when Christian Horner was there. So it\u2019s not only about Mekies but for sure he did a great job in his first weeks and months. You see they made some progress in the way they set-up the car.<\/p>\n
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\u201cYou feel a different mood in the team, you see Verstappen is more happy, also of course partly because of the results. But he feels better. He\u2019s really happy with Laurent and really happy there\u2019s peace in the team and no more fighting between the two shareholders.\u201d<\/p>\n
Verstappen praises Mekies approach\u00a0<\/p>\n
In September, Verstappen said of Mekies: \u201cUp until now we\u2019ve had a lot of races where we were just shooting left and right a little bit with the set-up of the car. Quite extreme changes, which shows that we were not in control. We were not fully understanding what to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Laurent having an engineering background, he\u2019s asking the right questions to the engineers \u2013 common-sense questions \u2013 so I think that works really well. Plus, you try to understand from the things that you have tried, then at one point something gives you a bit of an idea of a direction, and that\u2019s what we kept on working on.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely felt that in Zandvoort already we took a step that seemed to work quite well, and then here another step which felt again a little bit better.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
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