According to rumors from Italy, Max Verstappen is negotiating his F1 future with Aston Martin, as he prepares to follow in Adrian Newey’s footsteps and leave Red Bull Racing.
The Dutchman remains the championship leader, but it has been over a month since he last won an F1 2024 Grand Prix or even stood on an F1 podium, as his and Christian Horner’s teams appear to have lost ground to McLaren and Mercedes.
Even the team’s upgrades at the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix fell short of the defending double world champions’ expectations, and a 10-place grid drop at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps demonstrated that they can’t get through the pack as they did in 2022 and 2023.
All of this adds to what is supposed to be a vicious power struggle behind closed doors at Milton Keynes following Dietrich Mateschitz’s death, while Newey and Jonathan Wheatley (sporting director) have both left for greener pastures.
Lawrence Stroll is eyeing Verstappen for 2026, after the 26-year-old spent the last two months publicly flirting with Toto Wolff and Mercedes before declaring his future with Red Bull – as long as they can still win races.
“Lawrence Stroll has no intention of stopping at Newey,” says Autosprint of Verstappen and a Red Bull exit.[He] is now gunning for Max Verstappen, with whom negotiations are already starting for 2026.
“If the world champion were to be convinced, he would find Newey again in Aston Martin, possibly Fallows, and above all Honda.”
“At that point the operation would closely resemble the takeover of the entire top management of the world champions Benetton, carried out in 1995 by Jean Todt, who brought everyone to Ferrari.”
Mercedes still an Verstappen option for 2026
As previously said, Wolff has publicly expressed his admiration for Verstappen’s abilities, and it is the worst-kept secret in the paddock that he is the top candidate to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, should he decide to leave Red Bull.
However, with the Dutchman contracted until 2028, Autosprint adds that the Silver Arrows’ manager hasn’t given up hope and that the “negotiating channel” with the German squad is still open.
According to other rumors, Mercedes is claimed to have developed a formidable power unit for the 2026 regulations, which may push them back to world championship status and, in effect, make them the first choice destination for any driver on the F1 grid.
If that’s the case, Verstappen may be persuaded to make the jump. In the short term, it appears that Prema’s Kimi Antonelli in F2 will step up to partner George Russell after Carlos Sainz signed with Williams.
