Closer to retiring than changing teams - why Verstappen stayed at Red Bull — SkimNews
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- Max Verstappen extended his Red Bull contract to the end of 2030, adding two years to a deal that previously ran through 2028, and said at the announcement he was "closer to retiring than changing teams."
- Verstappen openly questioned his F1 future after the Japanese Grand Prix, citing frustrations with the new hybrid engines' energy-recovery demands, the artificiality of battery-powered deployment, and losing up to 470bhp before the end of long straights.
- Verstappen raced a Red Bull-branded Mercedes AMG GT at the Nurburgring 24 Hours in May, taking his shared car from 10th to first in his first stint before a late driveshaft failure robbed him of victory.
- FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is pushing new rules for naturally aspirated V8 engines by 2031, though Audi and Mercedes prefer turbocharged options and some want a more substantial hybrid component.
- Red Bull has had a difficult 2026 season — Verstappen is yet to win a race — and team principal Laurent Mekies acknowledged sharing "strategic decisions" with the driver that helped secure the extension.
- Mercedes and McLaren held talks with Verstappen, with Mercedes having indicated they would likely retain Kimi Antonelli and George Russell but boss Toto Wolff would have struggled to resist making room for the four-time champion.
- The new contract includes a small pay bump on top of what was already F1's biggest driver salary and leaves Verstappen with the option to leave if performance expectations aren't met, according to insiders cited in the report.
Why it matters: Verstappen — F1's four-time champion and biggest star — committing through 2030 ends Red Bull's succession anxiety and removes a looming free-agency question, while Mercedes and McLaren lose a potential top-line option for the foreseeable future. The deal also preserves Verstappen's leverage to leave if the car underperforms and keeps the door open to revisit his future when a new V8 engine era arrives post-2031.
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