Former F1 driver and FIA steward Johnny Herbert can not see Red Bull bouncing back in F1 2026 under the new regulations.

That is hardly music to the ears of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, who has remained faithful to his team after renewed speculation of a move to Mercedes was put to bed.

Will Max Verstappen be an F1 2026 title contender?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Mercedes remains without a contracted driver for F1 2026. That served to breathe fresh life into the Verstappen to Mercedes talk, with neither party shutting down the rumour mill.

That was until the eve of the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Verstappen confirmed his place at Red Bull for F1 2026.

Asked if he could say for sure he will be a Red Bull driver next season, Verstappen replied to the media, including PlanetF1.com: “Yeah.

“It’s quite interesting to follow all that, the amount of nice stories certainly that came out of it.

“But for me, I’ve never really said anything about it because I was just focused on talking to the team about how we can improve our performance, future ideas for next year as well, and that’s why I have nothing really to add ever.

“But I think it’s time to basically stop all the rumours and, for me, it’s always been quite clear that I was staying anyway.

“I think that was also the general feeling in the team anyway, because we were always in discussions about what we could do with the car.

“I think when you’re not interested in staying then you also stop talking about these kind of things – and I never did.”

However, Herbert’s assessment of the Red Bull’s F1 2026 chances does not bode well for the Dutchman’s title hopes.

Red Bull’s dominance has faded over the last 18 months, allowing McLaren to emerge as the new dominant force. Verstappen sits 97 points behind Drivers’ Championship leader Oscar Piastri with 10 rounds to go, making a fifth consecutive title a long shot.

Herbert does not see Red Bull turning things around next season.

“Can I see a bounce back next year? No,” Herbert bluntly declared to a gambling platform.

How F1 2026 is shaping up

👉 F1 2026: Confirmed teams and power unit suppliers for F1’s huge regulation changes

👉 F1 2026 driver line-up: Who is already confirmed for the 2026 grid?

F1 2026 represents a great unknown in regards to the pecking order, as both the chassis and engine regulations will receive a major overhaul. For Red Bull, the challenge is especially daunting, as it readies to become an engine manufacturer in its own right.

The newly-launched Red Bull Powertrains division has partnered up with Ford for the next chapter in the history of Red Bull Racing.

“That is a huge undertaking to be able to, one produce a F1 engine with all the technology that’s involved, and two, to make it as good or better than the very experienced Mercedes-Benz, for example,” warns Herbert.

“But of course Red Bull are not going to be having any of that.

“They’re just going to be this badged Ford engine, but done in-house. And it’s going to be interesting to see if they can do that.”

Joining Red Bull-Ford and Mercedes as the F1 2026 engine manufacturers will be Ferrari, Honda and Audi.

Renault was also signed-up as a manufacturer for the new engine regulations, but pulled the plug on its project. Alpine subsequently struck an engine deal with Mercedes, marking a transition from works to customer team status next year.

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