Red Bull Racing’s senior advisor, Helmut Marko, has confirmed that Max Verstappen will race for the team in 2026. The statement arrived amid Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff’s confirmation during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend that George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli will form the team’s Formula One driver lineup for the 2026 season.
Considering Red Bull’s dwindling performance due to the challenges on the RB21 F1 car, Verstappen was speculated to move to Mercedes for the 2026 season, the year when F1 enters a new era of regulations.
Russell stated last month that his contract extension was on hold due to Mercedes’ ongoing discussions with Verstappen. Despite the strong links, it is reported that the exit clause in Verstappen’s contract will not be triggered, given the low likelihood of him dropping from P3 to P4 in the 2025 Drivers’ Championship before the summer break. Thus, the four-time world champion will remain at Red Bull in 2026. Notably, his multi-year Red Bull deal ends at the end of 2028.
Verstappen’s close ally at Red Bull, Marko, has confirmed that the 27-year-old driver will continue racing for the team next year. Speaking to Sport.de, as quoted by ESPN, the 82-year-old advisor said:
“Yes, I can confirm that Max Verstappen will drive for Red Bull in 2026.”
Russell’s and Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes contracts expire at the end of 2025. Wolff was keen to sign Verstappen for the long-term future, but he has now ruled out that possibility. Revealing the drivers who are Mercedes’ priority for its 2026 driver lineup, Wolff said:
“Discussions have been taking place over the last weeks and months, so they are all up to date.
“The direction of travel is that we want to continue with George and Kimi. That is the first priority.
“But you can’t look past someone like Max and the plans he has for the future. We did that, but I don’t think there will be any big surprises.”
Russell revealed an open-minded approach when discussing Mercedes’ interest in signing Verstappen, and spoke about his intention for the future. He said:
“I’m not talking with anybody else and any teams who have shown interest.
“I have been quite open to say my intentions are to stay with Mercedes. That’s always been clear. And I am loyal to Mercedes. They gave me this chance to get into Formula 1.
“There haven’t been any hard feelings with any of the talks that have been going around, especially around Max. Because, like I said on numerous times, why wouldn’t teams be interested in Max?
“If every driver had no contracts for next year, Max would be number one for every single team. And that’s understandable. But ultimately, there are two seats for every race team.
“I knew if I continue to perform as I’m doing, my position would not be under threat whatsoever. So, I feel in a good place.
“We’re in no rush to do contract negotiations. We want to win together. Especially Kimi and I being team-mates now – we’re getting a result like today, both junior drivers from Mercedes, we’re both doing the job in terms of performance. Why would you want to change something that’s working?”
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