Max Verstappen could become only the second driver after Sebastian Vettel to win his first four F1 titles in successive years
Max Verstappen reportedly ‘wants to leave Red Bull as soon as possible’ and could even take a sabbatical to assess his options for the future.
Three-time World Champion Verstappen has cemented his place as one of the greatest drivers in F1 history over recent years, winning 51 of the last 82 races stretching back to the start of his maiden title-winning season in 2021.
F1’s rumour mill: Max Verstappen has no intention of seeing out current Red Bull contract
However, the 26-year-old is currently in the midst of his longest victory drought since 2020, having failed to win any of the last six races since triumphing at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona on June 23.
Although he continues to hold a 62-point lead over McLaren’s Lando Norris in the Drivers’ standings, Red Bull‘s mid-season slump has prompted further speculation over his future.
Despite holding a contract until the end of the 2028 season, Verstappen was heavily linked with a move to Mercedes this year following Lewis Hamilton’s surprise decision to join Ferrari for F1 2025.
Max Verstappen to Mercedes?
Eddie Jordan has claimed Merc's top brass met in Monaco to work out how to meet the F1 champ's salary demands…#F1 #MaxVerstappen #Mercedes #RedBull pic.twitter.com/ufGv8azqVC
— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) July 26, 2024
Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team boss, made no secret of his desire to land Verstappen before opting to promote teenage sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli as Hamilton’s successor.
It remains to be seen whether Mercedes will renew their interest in Verstappen ahead of F1’s major regulation changes in 2026.
Antonelli was confirmed as George Russell’s team-mate for F1 2025 at last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, where Verstappen could only manage a sixth-placed finish – his worst result since May’s Monaco GP – as Red Bull’s woes continued.
Verstappen went on to describe the RB20 car as a “monster”, urging the team to “turn the car upside down” in order to get their faltering campaign back on track.
Although he is contracted to Red Bull for the next four seasons, a report by Swiss-German publication Blick has claimed that Verstappen ‘wants to leave as soon as possible’ with it ‘long since agreed’ by his camp that he will not see out the duration of his current deal.
It is said that Verstappen’s bond with team principal Christian Horner ‘has been cut’, with the high-profile departures of design legend Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley, Red Bull’s long-serving sporting director, perceived in some quarters as a major blow to the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
With “many question marks” over Red Bull’s in-house engine project for 2026, Verstappen is reportedly keen to leave – yet a lack of alternative options could force him to take a sabbatical.
With Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri under long-term contracts at McLaren, and Hamilton and Charles Leclerc tied to multi-year deals with Ferrari, Mercedes could represent Verstappen’s only hope of moving elsewhere.
Mercedes opted against specifying the exact length of Antonelli’s contract following the confirmation of his promotion at Monza, with George Russell’s current deal set to expire at the end of F1 2025.
However, it is claimed that it could prove ‘very difficult’ for Verstappen to force a way into a Mercedes seat if both Antonelli and Russell to a high level next season.
Verstappen has frequently warned that he could retire young over recent years, citing the demands placed on the drivers by the exhausting calendar as one of the factors likely to force him away from F1.
Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com at last month’s Dutch Grand Prix, Horner aired his belief that Verstappen will remain with Red Bull as long as the team continue to offer him a competitive car.
Yet he did concede that performance clauses exist whereby Verstappen can leave if the team do not deliver to a certain standard.
Asked about Verstappen’s future at Zandvoort, Horner said: “I find it surprising how much discussion in the open media there is about this topic.
“The situation was always clear between ourselves and Max and I think that others can talk, but we’re comfortable with where we’re at.
“It’s down to us to deliver. We have an agreement until 2028, so it’s down to us to deliver.
“I didn’t see Toto’s car performing that well [at Zandvoort]. 2028 is a long way away. It’s down to us to provide a race-winning car.
“Every contract has a performance [clause] element in it. We’re not going to talk about what those elements are, but as long as we provide a competitive car we know what the situation is.”