Former F1 driver and FIA steward Johnny Herbert can not see Red Bull bouncing back in F1 2026 under the new regulations.<\/p>\n
That is hardly music to the ears of Red Bull<\/a> driver Max Verstappen, who has remained faithful to his team after renewed speculation of a move to Mercedes was put to bed.<\/p>\n Will Max Verstappen be an F1 2026 title contender?<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n That was until the eve of the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Verstappen confirmed his place at Red Bull for F1 2026.<\/p>\n Asked if he could say for sure he will be a Red Bull driver next season, Verstappen replied to the media, including PlanetF1.com: \u201cYeah.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s quite interesting to follow all that, the amount of nice stories certainly that came out of it.<\/p>\n \u201cBut for me, I\u2019ve 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\u2019s why I have nothing really to add ever.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think it\u2019s time to basically stop all the rumours and, for me, it\u2019s always been quite clear that I was staying anyway.<\/p>\n \u201cI 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI think when you\u2019re not interested in staying then you also stop talking about these kind of things \u2013 and I never did.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Herbert\u2019s assessment of the Red Bull\u2019s F1 2026 chances does not bode well for the Dutchman\u2019s title hopes.<\/p>\n Red Bull\u2019s dominance has faded over the last 18 months, allowing McLaren to emerge as the new dominant force. Verstappen sits 97 points behind Drivers\u2019 Championship<\/a> leader Oscar Piastri with 10 rounds to go, making a fifth consecutive title a long shot.<\/p>\n Herbert does not see Red Bull turning things around next season.<\/p>\n \u201cCan I see a bounce back next year? No,\u201d Herbert bluntly declared to a gambling platform.<\/p>\n How F1 2026 is shaping up<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49\u00a0F1 2026: Confirmed teams and power unit suppliers for F1\u2019s huge regulation changes<\/a><\/p>\n