Max Verstappen confirmed that he had serious talks with Mercedes and McLaren before deciding to stay at Red Bull until the end of 2030. The four-time Formula 1 world champion, however, stated that staying with the Austrian team was the choice that made the most sense for his career and his plans outside the category.
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Asked by the BBC about contacts with Mercedes in 2025 and with McLaren this year, Verstappen admitted that the talks existed. “Of course, any conversation is taken seriously. They were all very respectful conversations, and there is nothing wrong with that,” he said. Even so, he reinforced that the final decision was guided by the relationship built with Red Bull: “I felt that staying was the right choice for me. You need to follow your heart.”
The Dutchman explained that he does not want to abandon the project at a moment of rebuilding. “I could have left at the beginning of my journey at Red Bull and gone somewhere else to try to win. If you have a little patience, you end up winning in the end,” he said. For Verstappen, the team remains “like a second family,” and the arrival of new people fuels his confidence that the team can grow again.
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Another important factor lies in projects parallel to F1. Verstappen revealed that he will have activities in 2027 involving Red Bull itself and highlighted that he never spent much time looking for alternatives. “I always told them: ‘Don’t stress about that, just work on the car.’ The faster the car goes, the easier the decision becomes.”
Finally, the four-time champion rejected the idea of changing teams just to seek the most competitive car. “You can’t be the captain of the ship and, at the first opportunity something goes wrong, just jump off. We had a drop compared to the years of dominance, but I also don’t mind rebuilding the team. It’s a different kind of challenge.”
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