A silly season not too hot
The summer break of Formula 1 has just begun and, with it, we have officially entered the heart of the silly season of the driver market. This year, however, the tone of the speculations is clearly subdued compared to 2025, when, after all, not much of relevance happened, at least regarding the top teams. To be clear, this time not even the photos of Max Verstappen and Toto Wolff paparazzied together by the sea in Sardinia really ignited the market: despite the sometimes venomous words towards Red Bull, the Dutchman seems destined to stay at least another year, also because Mercedes is nurturing the new little champion Andrea Kimi Antonelli, confirming the intention to renew the current pairing with George Russell in full for 2027.
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And then there is the fact that it is Max Verstappen himself who lowers the tone towards the team, perhaps implying the willingness to yield to the courting of directors Mark Mateschitz and Oliver Mintzlaff, after the sweet words spoken for him in recent days by team principal Laurent Mekies. A signed renewal on paper is not yet being discussed, of course, but the impression is that the parties are getting closer. At least according to the interview the four-time world champion gave to RacingNews365 during the Budapest weekend.
Is Max Verstappen mending with Red Bull?
“This team, for me – explains Max Verstappen – is a bit like my second family. We have shared many extraordinary experiences and there have been fantastic things, but obviously also difficult moments that are probably a bit tougher now. This year started rather uphill but now we are in a growth phase. Sure, in recent years some people have left, but there are also others joining us (the latest in time is Gwen Lagrue, the guru in managing Academies for young talents coming from Mercedes, ed.). People always like to focus on the negative aspects and, when someone leaves, it is always made to seem like a dramatic event. Sure, sometimes you think ‘I wish some people had stayed’, but that’s how life goes and the same is seen in other sports too”.
Read more Antonelli, the engine penalty will be served in Monza or Baku
“It is even harder to always keep a successful group united – continues the Red Bull driver – because these are people that other teams also try to hire to get their talent, and it’s the same in football: when you see a great player, then there is another club that wants him and will do everything possible to have him. So it’s not unusual. I have the impression that sometimes people have reacted a bit dramatically, maybe a bit too much, as if it only happens to us. People come and go continuously, it’s simply part of the sport”. “Within the team I am simply myself. Over the years I have built a great relationship with many people and I say things as they are, I am very straightforward because it is also the way I like to act and they do the same with me,” Verstappen then concluded.
