{"id":889244,"date":"2026-09-09T13:12:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T13:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/889244\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T13:12:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T13:12:16","slug":"max-verstappen-confirms-talks-with-mclaren-and-mercedes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/889244\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen Confirms Talks with McLaren and Mercedes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Max Verstappen<\/a> has confirmed that he held serious talks with both Mercedes and McLaren<\/a> about his future in Formula 1<\/a>. The Dutchman spoke with Mercedes last year and with McLaren this year, but ultimately decided to extend his stay at Red Bull Racing<\/a>.Verstappen\u2019s future has regularly been a topic of discussion over the past F1<\/a> seasons. Mercedes in particular was long linked with the four-time world champion last year, while this year McLaren played a leading role in the transfer rumors. Verstappen now confirms not only that talks did take place, but also that he always takes such conversations seriously.Verstappen confirms talks with McLaren and Mercedes<\/p>\n

When, in a conversation with the BBC, he is asked whether he spoke with Mercedes last year and McLaren this year, Verstappen does not deny it. \u201cOf course you take every conversation seriously. They are all very respectful talks. There\u2019s absolutely nothing wrong with that,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

In the end, Verstappen didn\u2019t see enough reason to leave Red Bull. \u201cI felt that staying was the right choice for me. You have to follow your heart. I could have walked away from Red Bull very early in my career and tried to win somewhere else. If you have a bit of patience, you\u2019ll win eventually. I feel like that\u2019s my approach again now,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

Verstappen wanted Red Bull to improve the RB22<\/p>\n

Verstappen ultimately signed a new agreement with Red Bull this year. His contract runs in principle through 2030, although the deal undoubtedly contains performance clauses. That made his choice to stay longer with the Austrian team important, especially given the talks being held with other teams in the meantime and the fact that he could have activated such a clause as early as this summer.<\/p>\n

He chose not to do so, however. During that period, Verstappen tried to keep the focus within Red Bull primarily on the car\u2019s performance. He says he made it clear to the team multiple times that they didn\u2019t need to constantly worry about his contract: if the speed came, the signature would follow naturally.<\/p>\n

Verstappen reassured Red Bull<\/p>\n

\u201cI always told them: \u2018Don\u2019t worry about it, just work on the car.\u2019 Because the faster the car goes, the easier the decision becomes,\u201d Verstappen explains. According to him, that didn\u2019t change the fact that there was some uncertainty within Red Bull. \u201cOf course I can understand that they might have been a little worried at times. But at the same time I was mainly concerned about what was going on here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fact that Verstappen spoke with Mercedes and McLaren in the meantime didn\u2019t mean he was constantly preoccupied with a possible departure. His activities outside Formula 1 also demanded much of his attention. \u201cAt the same time, I was also very busy with my own things outside Formula 1. So I never really spent a lot of time talking, doing all sorts of different things, or trying to go somewhere else,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Why Verstappen chose Red Bull<\/p>\n

His long relationship with Red Bull played an important role in his decision. Verstappen has been driving for the team since 2016 and won his four world titles with the Austrian outfit. Despite the more difficult period this year, he saw enough reason to remain part of the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also comes down to feeling good within a team. For me, this is like a second family,\u201d Verstappen reiterates words he has often said. \u201cThe belief that you can turn the situation around, that you can hopefully build a better future with other people, new people. And ultimately, for me it\u2019s not just about Formula 1. There are many things I\u2019m doing next year that also involve Red Bull.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why he ultimately ended up with his current employer again. \u201cI feel good here. So for me, this is the right place to be.\u201d Verstappen also emphasizes that he didn\u2019t simply want to move to the team with the fastest car. \u201cI don\u2019t mind the challenge either. I don\u2019t have that urge or need to show in a different car that I can win with it, or whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to run to the fastest car and then do it all over again. But that\u2019s not how I\u2019m wired. You can\u2019t be the captain of the ship and jump off as soon as something doesn\u2019t work,\u201d he continues. \u201cSince the dominant years it\u2019s gone a bit downhill, but I also don\u2019t mind building it back up again. That\u2019s a new challenge as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen has confirmed that he held serious talks with both Mercedes and McLaren about his future in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":889245,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,28673,576,577,1885,248574,590,2190,82],"class_list":["post-889244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-f1-news","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-max-verstappen","tag-max-verstappen-news","tag-mclaren","tag-red-bull-racing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=889244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/889245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=889244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=889244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=889244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}