Max Verstappen has opened up about one of the most unusual phases of his Formula 1 career, explaining why he committed his future to Red Bull despite the team’s difficulties in 2026, while also discussing talks with Mercedes and McLaren, his endurance-racing ambitions and his growing frustration with Formula 1’s new hybrid regulations.
The Dutch champion is approaching the 2026 season without compromises. Red Bull is not in the position Max Verstappen would like and is not fighting for the championship, meaning the priority has shifted towards learning as much as possible for next year and finding a way to recover performance. The major changes the car requires cannot be introduced during the current season, but the lessons gathered now are intended to provide a stronger foundation for the future.
Max Verstappen identifies a fundamental Red Bull problem
The problem with the car is clear from Max Verstappen’s perspective. Red Bull is lacking overall performance, while the feeling behind the wheel is not what he wants. The balance also changes too much between corner entry, the middle of the turn and the exit, suggesting that something more fundamental needs to be addressed.
It is an issue that has persisted for more than a year and across different sets of regulations. That has forced Red Bull to ask how such a characteristic developed and what needs to change to eliminate it. The struggles have already exposed several weaknesses in the Red Bull RB22, while the arrival of new personnel has prompted discussions over potential changes and whether the team needs to adopt a different working philosophy.
For that reason, the focus is increasingly extending beyond the immediate results of 2026. Max Verstappen and Red Bull are trying to extract lessons that can be incorporated into the next car, with the team effectively using the current campaign to prepare for 2027.
Why Max Verstappen renewed with Red Bull despite rival interest
Max Verstappen’s decision to extend his Red Bull contract was ultimately driven by a sense of belonging. He regards the team as a second family and remains convinced that the current situation can be reversed, creating the possibility of building a stronger future with the people already involved and the new figures arriving within the organisation.
Max Verstappen told BBC Sport: “For me, part of it is about feeling comfortable within a team. This is like a second family. There is the belief that we can turn things around and hopefully build a better future with different people and new people. In the end, Formula 1 is not everything for me either. There are many things I will be doing next year in which Red Bull is involved. I feel good here, so for me this is the right place to be.”
Red Bull did not need to make an extraordinary effort to convince him. Max Verstappen has consistently told the team to concentrate on improving the car, because the faster it becomes, the easier his decision naturally becomes. He also did not spend much time exploring alternative possibilities because he remained heavily occupied with projects outside Formula 1.
Even so, conversations with Mercedes in the past and with McLaren this year were treated seriously and conducted with mutual respect. Max Verstappen ultimately decided to stay with Red Bull by following what he felt was the right choice rather than simply moving towards whichever car appeared fastest.
“Of course, you take any kind of conversation seriously. They were all very respectful discussions and there is nothing wrong with that,” Max Verstappen explained. “For me, staying was the right decision. You have to follow your heart. I could have left Red Bull very early in my career and gone somewhere else to try to win. But if you have some patience, eventually you do win. I feel that I have the same approach now.”
The decision also came despite continued uncertainty surrounding his future and the exit clauses connected to Max Verstappen’s Red Bull contract.
Max Verstappen has no need to prove himself with another F1 team
Max Verstappen also does not feel any need to demonstrate that he could become a champion in another car. For him, remaining with Red Bull and helping the team recover is itself an appealing challenge.
“I don’t mind the challenge. I don’t have this desire or need to prove in another car that I can win, or anything like that. It is easy to run towards the fastest car and then do everything again. But that isn’t who I am,” he said.
He compared his position to the captain of a ship, arguing that leadership also means remaining committed when circumstances become difficult rather than immediately searching for an escape route.
“You cannot be the captain of the ship and then, as soon as something stops working, jump off it. Things have gone somewhat downhill compared with the dominant years, but I don’t mind rebuilding it either. That is another challenge.”
The talks with McLaren and Mercedes therefore did not outweigh the relationship Max Verstappen has developed with Red Bull or his belief that the team can recover.
Nürburgring 24 Hours leaves a major impression on Max Verstappen
Formula 1 is far from Max Verstappen’s only racing interest. The race he enjoyed most was the Nürburgring 24 Hours, an event he described as an extraordinary experience and an example of pure motorsport.
In difficult conditions featuring light rain, a slippery circuit, accidents and Code 60 periods, Max Verstappen managed to climb from tenth position to the lead during his opening stint. The constantly changing circumstances did not feel unfamiliar to him because of the enormous amount of endurance racing he had previously completed in the simulator.
“I was having fun. The conditions weren’t easy. It started to drizzle, the track became slippery, there were accidents and Code 60 periods,” Max Verstappen recalled. “Some people were saying, ‘Let’s see how he manages in a race under pressure with all these situations he has never experienced before.’ But I have done them a million times on the simulator.”
He continued: “I have completed so many laps and so many 24-hour races on the simulator. I never felt out of place. I was completely focused and I simply enjoyed it enormously. Once you are in the race, you move to another level. I was completely in the zone. It is really enjoyable.”
Max Verstappen would like to return and win the Nürburgring 24 Hours in the future. His ambitions go considerably further, however. He eventually wants to compete across endurance racing, including in the Hypercar category, but only when the conditions are right and he has the opportunity to be genuinely competitive.
Le Mans is also on the list, potentially alongside Fernando Alonso. Max Verstappen would consider sharing a car with Fernando Alonso if their schedules aligned, the project made sense and they had a genuine opportunity to fight for victory.
Max Verstappen criticises F1’s 2026 hybrid engine regulations
Max Verstappen is considerably less enthusiastic about Formula 1’s new hybrid power-unit regulations. His criticism centres on the amount of energy management required from drivers and the way it can conflict with the traditional principles of extracting maximum lap time.
In the past, the driver willing to brake latest, commit most aggressively through high-speed corners and return to the throttle earliest would normally be rewarded. Max Verstappen believes the current regulations can create the opposite situation, with drivers sometimes needing to lift, brake earlier or delay applying the throttle in order to manage energy and generate greater speed later on the straights.
“Throughout the history of the sport, the driver who commits the most, brakes the latest, gets on the throttle earliest and attacks the high-speed corners is normally rewarded because that is where you gain time,” Max Verstappen said.
“But now you are constantly thinking, ‘Maybe in this corner I need to hold something back. Go onto the throttle later. Brake earlier. Or lift off. Then I will have more top speed.’ Things like that are so unnatural. That is not how it should be. […] These cars are numb to the driver’s inputs. […] It is really, really limited, almost like having something around your neck. You are being held back.”
Max Verstappen pointed to Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson as examples of how drivers have been able to become competitive very quickly after changing cars, reinforcing his belief that the current generation of machinery reduces the influence of certain driver inputs.
Max Verstappen wants lighter V8 engines back in Formula 1
Looking further ahead, Max Verstappen would prefer Formula 1 to return to a lighter V8 engine. His ideal solution would include a much smaller battery used primarily as a push-to-pass system rather than as an integral part of normal performance management. He would also prefer to remove the turbocharger in order to eliminate turbo lag.
His stance reflects Max Verstappen’s desire for Formula 1 to return to V8 engines and restore more of the sensations he associates with previous generations of racing cars.
Max Verstappen still loves competition and hopes Formula 1 will improve as it moves towards 2030, but he deeply misses the purity of the driving experience as well as the sound, vibrations and emotion created by older engines.
Max Verstappen: ‘I just want to be myself’
His approach away from the technical debate remains consistent. Max Verstappen sees himself as a winning machine when racing demands it, but he can also switch off and enjoy life outside the circuit. He demands a great deal from Red Bull and expects the same level of commitment in return, just as the team expects him to perform at his highest level.
Speaking openly and remaining honest are central to that philosophy, even in a Formula 1 environment where politics between teams are unavoidable.
“I just want to be myself. I know there is a lot of politics in Formula 1, and I also understand that there is a lot of politics between the teams. […] When something is good, it is good. When it is bad, it is bad. You will hear that from me because that is how I like to operate. And I am not going to hold back from that.”
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