“After the first races I told Mekies:‘no, don’t come asking me questions about the future’. I didn’t even know if I wanted to stay in Formula 1“. At the first press conference after renewing with Red Bull until 2030, Max Verstappen confirmed what he had repeatedly said in the first part of 2026: staying in Formula 1 was far from certain for him, with doubts about a possible retirement troubling him for several weeks.
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The four-time world champion has never hidden how the new rules are, in his opinion – to put it mildly – not particularly exciting for the drivers as well as for the spectators. For Max, what really matters is the ability to feel emotions and adrenaline while driving, without which it would no longer have made sense to stay after winning everything with Red Bull.
Verstappen, no desire to change just for the sake of it
Besides the specter of retirement, recently the possibility of Verstappen away from Red Bull has been raised several times. The departure of Gianpiero Lambiase to McLaren has fueled possible discussions and negotiations with the Woking team, also in relation to a swap with Oscar Piastri.
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“I think I was closer to retirement than to looking for another team. In the end, I like being here, I think it would be a fantastic story if I managed to finish an entire career with just one team – said Verstappen – I don’t feel the need to change just for the sake of it. I don’t necessarily need to try another color. My favorite color is blue, so that helps.”
“Clearly it’s very important to feel good where you are. Even if this year I had the fastest car, I don’t think I would have stayed long if I didn’t feel good here. Our goal now is to get back to the top. I have to believe in the people and the possibility of doing it: then time will give us all the answers. I still have a great desire to win, and for me it is obviously important that Red Bull allows me to do something outside of Formula 1 as well“.
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The hope of a return to V8s
Verstappen has not hidden his dissatisfaction with this generation of Formula 1, but the intentions to improve engine management already from next year and the future hope of a radical change gave the right push towards the renewal.
“I accepted the situation we are in. Obviously I’m not happy about it but at the same time, with the discussions I had with F1 and the FIA, we are already trying to make small improvements for next year and the year after, besides the year in which I signed to leave the door open for a potential return of the V8s“.
“I’m willing to accept that at the moment it’s not, so to speak, fantastic, but I still love racing. This is still Formula 1“.
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