Max Verstappen may have just ended Mercedes rumours once and for all | F1 | Sport
Max Verstappen is keen to stay at Red Bull for the rest of his career (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)
Newly-crowned four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen has declared his unwavering allegiance to Red Bull, possibly for the remainder of his career, and has appeared to shut down the possibility of a future move to Mercedes.
Verstappen is descending on Doha for the Qatar Grand Prix a victory procession, having joined an elite group including Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost, and Sebastian Vettel in capturing his fourth crown in Vegas last Saturday.
Despite Mercedes‘ unsuccessful bid to steal the Dutchman away to replace Ferrari-bound Hamilton and Toto Wolff keeping tabs for 2026, Verstappen, who is tied to Red Bull until 2028, brushed off the need for external validation.
“It is not like I need to try to win the world championship somewhere else,” he said. “That is not a desire from my side. I am just happy where I am at.
“And it would also be very beautiful if you just could stay with one team and race there forever. I would like to believe (that could be with Red Bull). That is the target.
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“Am I bothered about a legacy? No. I don’t value my success because of what other people say. If I am happy, that is all that matters.
“In sport, you also need a bit of luck to be in the right team for a long time. It doesn’t mean that the guy with the most titles is actually the best.”
Verstappen started the season strong, winning four of the first five races, but Red Bull’s dominance waned as the season progressed.
This was after allegations of “inappropriate behaviour” against team principal Christian Horner by a female colleague, which he vehemently denied and was cleared of by Red Bull GmbH on two occasions.
However, Verstappen’s father Jos, a former racing peer of Schumacher at Benetton, called for Horner’s resignation. “You would rather not have to deal with all these kind of things,” Max Verstappen confessed.
Max Verstappen has again led the way this season in F1 despite a slower Red Bull car (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)
“I always tried to focus on the performance, work with the engineers, and try not to make it all blow up. I have a really good relationship (with Horner). It is a strong relationship.”
But amidst the turmoil, Wolff saw an opportunity to replace the Ferrari-bound Hamilton with Verstappen. So how close did Verstappen come to swapping Red Bull for the Silver Arrows?
“It is always important that you keep your options open,” he remarked. “But it was very clear that it was not on the cards. I was winning here.
“And when you are having trouble, to immediately run away, doesn’t sit well with me. It is not fair on anyone. I am loyal to this team for what they have done for me. And that goes both ways.”
Despite a slump in performance, Verstappen’s mastery was unmissable as he raced from 17th to victory in a rain-soaked Brazilian Grand Prix – his sole win in the last 12 races.
Max Verstappen, right, speaks with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)
Yet, the champion has felt the heat with his aggressive driving under scrutiny, such as pushing Lando Norris off the track twice in Mexico.
The move earned him comparisons with the notorious Dick Dastardly from former world champion Damon Hill, while broadcasting legend Martin Brundle suggested Verstappen’s actions might tarnish his F1 legacy.
Addressing the criticism, Verstappen said: “Sometimes in racing situations, or battles, or certain penalties, and the way people look at success and how much credit they give you or not, I definitely feel that there is a bias.
“The problem in F1 is that 80 to 85 per cent of the media is British. And I did feel that some things which were written about me were not fair.
“I am not going to sit here and single out one broadcaster, but I just had to laugh about what was said. I was like ‘whatever’.”
“At the end of the day yes, (I have four titles) and they are the ones in front of a microphone. I speak out. I don’t care. If I don’t agree with something I will tell you.
“On the track, I will put it all on the line. I am not going to back out. I want to win. That needs to be the end result. Some people criticise me for that.
“But most of them don’t have a championship-winning mentality so they don’t understand, and they will never understand that kind of approach.”
When questioned about any expected changes in perceived bias, Verstappen responded with candour: “It depends a lot if you are fighting against a British driver. If I was fighting Charles (Leclerc) for example, it would be way less of a problem.”
