Verstappen’s Wall
The future of Max Verstappen in F1 is still uncertain. The journalists present in the press room for the opening conference of the Spa-Francorchamps weekend – which featured the four-time world champion as the main protagonist – tried in every way to get a statement that would clarify what 2027 will be like for the current Red Bull superstar. Max, however, barricaded himself behind his usual wall of “I’m not telling you“. A no comment that is not even a guarantee for the Milton Keynes leadership: Verstappen in fact also refused to explicitly confirm his stay with the team next year. A familiar story, reminiscent of the last two seasons. In those cases, the Hasselt champion always stayed in the fold, but it is not certain that the same will happen this year.
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“Do I have updates on the future? No. I do not consider the speculations circulating in any way and I have no time frame. I have nothing to say on my part. Will I stay at Red Bull next year? I said I have nothing to say”, Verstappen replied to the first volley of questions. Then an even more specific question came from the press room, concerning the intention and desire (or not) of the orange champion to confirm his stay with his current team: “Do I want to stay at Red Bull and will I drive for them next year? I don’t want to say yes or no and I don’t want to talk about my future. I have already said many times that if there were any news I would communicate it personally”.
Engineers on the Run
However, Verstappen showed more willingness to talk about the team’s future, implying between the lines – but not too much – that he is not exactly enthusiastic about the ‘exodus’ of engineers and technicians that has characterized the team in the last year or two: “We have to look to the future, also trying to fix the current problems we have with the car, but it’s an open discussion – Verstappen said on the matter – sometimes there is a bit of disappointment, a bit of anger after a race, but for example after Silverstone I went home, reset, and on Wednesday I went back to the factory and started preparing for the weekend ahead“.
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“Clearly I keep working like this all year – Verstappen continued – then there are years when you are more competitive than others, but as far as my approach and how we work as a team, nothing changes. People come and go, it’s clear, it’s also part of the process. Sometimes you would also want certain people to stay – the Dutchman specified, and this seemed like a jab at the team – but sometimes life is like that and sport works the same way. So you just have to keep going, trying to find new talents as well, that’s what we always try to do and that’s what we do too“.
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