McLaren expect Max Verstappen to stay in F1 but leave Red Bull | F1 | Sport

Lando Norris thinks Max Verstappen won’t walk away from Formula 1 this year – while his boss Zak Brown has tipped the Dutchman to quit Red Bull for a rival team. The four-time world champion has admitted he is considering his future having failed to enjoy being behind the wheel of his new car across the first three rounds of the new season.

And the impending departure of his long-serving race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, who has agreed a deal to join McLaren at the end of his current Red Bull contract, is just another reason for Verstappen to walk away. It has also, rather inevitably, led to some speculation that he could follow his close ally to the papaya team.

Though Brown says he has no intention to replace either of his drivers any time soon. He said: “From McLaren’s point of view, I couldn’t be happier with Lando and Oscar [Piastri]. We have long-term agreements with them, and I think it’s the greatest driver pairing on and off the track. So we have no intention of replacing any of our two superstars.”

The American did concede that they might consider a swoop for Verstappen if one of their stars were to leave, though McLaren don’t expect that to happen. Brown added: “Obviously, if one were to go away then, yeah, Max is a huge talent. But I’m not anticipating that. Where might he go? If I had to bet, I’d say to Mercedes.”

Asked about his rival’s situation, defending champion Norris echoed comments from fellow Brit George Russell, who last week said Verstappen is in a position to do what he likes with his career, given the success he has had. Though Norris cannot see the Dutchman quitting the sport so soon.

He said: “Max has earned the right to go and do whatever he wants. He has won four world championships. He has always been very open to say what he thinks, whether you agree with him or not. He is himself and that is a very good way to live your life. It would be a shame and a miss for the sport if he walked away because he is one of the best drivers ever in Formula 1.

“And, even though he makes it incredibly tough for all of us, it would be a shame for the drivers, too, because he is always good fun to race against and you want to race the best in the world. He is certainly one of them. Hopefully things get better. I also saw that he said he wants to win a fifth world championship, so I am sure he will stay longer than people say.”

Meanwhile, Piastri voiced his satisfaction over the moves made by F1 stakeholders to tweak the rules ahead of next weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, after widespread complaints about the quality of racing across the first three rounds. “The FIA took it very seriously. F1 took it very seriously. I think that’s reflected in some of the changes and the dialogue’s been very good,” the Australian said.

“The two main things [drivers] wanted addressing was reinstating the challenge in qualifying and making things more natural in the way it should be in qualifying and being able to reduce the closing speeds and the speed differences in the race in unexpected places.

“We’ll have to wait and see if we need further changes. We probably had ideas of other things that you could change but they’re not things you can change from one weekend to the next. They’re from year to year or even longer term than that. I think the FIA did a good job of recognising our concerns and acting in what seemed like the most appropriate way.”