Max Verstappen helped Red Bull to reclaim their hegemony in the F1 Motorsport back in 2021. Albeit that year, the Milton Keynes team did not win the constructor title, the Dutch racer broke Lewis Hamilton’s streak to claim the Driver’s World Championship. It was Verstappen’s maiden title. Since then, he did not have to look back until this ongoing season. The Dutch racer won the Driver’s titles in a dominating style in the last two years. In 2022, he won 15 races, and the Austrian team went on to win 17 overall, with Sergio Perez winning a couple. Last year, Max Verstappen won a record 19 races of a total of 22 GPs. Again, Checo won a couple last season.
That way, Red Bull enjoyed a dominating 21 wins in 2023, thanks to the most dominant F1 car, RB19. However, the RB20 car seems to cause all sorts of problems for Verstappen and his performance. Albeit, the Dutch driver had won seven of the first ten races. Gradually, since the Chinese Grand Prix, the Milton Keynes outfit started experiencing a dip in performance. Now, the situation has become such that the reigning three-time champion wants to leave the Austrian team in no time.
Max Verstappen Wants To Leave Red Bull As Soon As Possible
Recently, PlanetF1 reported that there was an allegation that the Dutchman wanted to leave Red Bull as soon as he could. Moreover, the triple-time champion can even take a year-long sabbatical. Then, Max Verstappen could assess his options and start racing again in 2026. Hence, the Dutch racer will have to return straight to new regulations, as the FIA will establish new power unit rules. Anyway, the rumor that Verstappen could leave the team started early this season when a female employee accused Christian Horner of “Inappropriate behavior.” This incident happened in February this year. Reports emerged that this chaos could make Max leave the team and join Mercedes. Moreover, that’s what Jos Verstappen would like Max to do.
After the accusation of the female employee, Verstappen Senior criticized Horner in the media, saying, “If Horner stays as the team principal, he will tear the team apart.” Then, Jos was seen talking to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. Moreover, reports suggest that Wolff wanted Max Verstappen to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. Anyway, the latest announcement came that F2 talent Andrea Kimi Antonelli will replace the seven-time champion in 2025. But the question remains if the possibility of Verstappen joining the Silver Arrows is over already.
Mercedes Can Try To Sign The Dutchman In 2026
Recently, Toto Wolff told BBC Sport that Mercedes is keeping their communication channel open with the Dutch driver’s camp for the 2026 season. But they are also focusing on their 2025 driver’s lineup – George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Moreover, the billionaire executive said that he knows Max Verstappen will focus on making it function with Red Bull.
On the other hand, Mercedes will try to make the 2025 driver’s lineup function, that’s their priority moving forward. That’s the reason why Mercedes and Verstappen have not given each other any “Timings.” Moreover, Wolff said that the hope will be to continue with Kimi and Russell.
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