– What’s next for Max Verstappen? Will he stay loyal to Red Bull or switch to another team? These are the key questions looking ahead to the 2027 Formula 1 season. But answers to these questions are still pending. That’s why media representatives regularly inquire with Verstappen and Red Bull for updates.
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Team principal Laurent Mekies now reacts similarly annoyed as Verstappen to the constant inquiries. At the last Formula 1 race before the summer break in Hungary, he said in an interview with Sky: “I think everything that can be said on this topic has actually been said.”
“Max is with us every race weekend. He works incredibly hard. The team wants to win races again as soon as possible. Max also wants to win races again as soon as possible. And that’s exactly what we are working on together. That’s the only thing that really matters,” Mekies explained.
How Red Bull internally deals with the future question
The Red Bull team principal tries to downplay the importance of the future question about Verstappen. That is only “a big topic outside the team,” said Mekies.
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“Internally we often joke about it: We don’t ask Max every week if he’s staying. We ask him every week how he can help us bring the car into its optimal operating window. That’s what it’s about. That’s what we keep working on.”
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Everything else will then follow automatically, Mekies said. “If the car is fast, then we know: That’s exactly what Max is interested in.”
What do the recent results mean for Verstappen?
The recent Red Bull results have likely made Verstappen more optimistic again: Since the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg, he has achieved two second places and one third place.
It could have even been four podiums, but in Silverstone Verstappen crashed while lying in third place due to a technical defect. Already in Spielberg, a technical error in qualifying cost him a better result. Verstappen made no secret of his frustration about these incidents afterwards. He called the incidents “unacceptable.”
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Meanwhile, Verstappen’s manager Raymond Vermeulen is publicly increasing the pressure. He recently said to the Telegraaf that Verstappen was “not born to race in the midfield.” But that was especially the bitter reality for Verstappen and Red Bull at the start of the season. Much will therefore depend on how competitive Red Bull is after the summer break.
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