Rumors that link Max Verstappen to a move to Mercedes dominated the structure of the British Grand Prix, but the Dutchman has not shown an indication that he is ready to stop Red Bull
Red Bull has an emergency – but not the one that the entire Formula 1 Paddock is talking about. Because, unless he has a huge change of heart, Max Verstappen will probably not add to Mercedes before 2026.
There are certainly a few people in his camp who would like to see it happen. Where else do you think the rumors that claim that the four -time champion is ready to stop Red Bull came from? And it is true that Verstappen is frustrated by the current position of Red Bull – he wants to win the title every year, but they cannot compete with McLaren in that area.
But for the Dutchman the idea is to complete his entire F1 career with Red Bull, attractive. If they completely tumble the battle at the front of the schedule, it will be a more difficult decision. But at the moment he is still competing for pale positions and victories, as he did in Silverstone on Sunday.
And at Mercedes they seem to end the argument once and for all. They have had George Russell waiting, but at any time he doubted that his future is at the silver arrows. “The chance that I will not be on Mercedes next year is, I think, exceptionally low,” he said prior to the British Grand Prix.
Register with our free weekly F1 newsletter, Pit Lane Chronicle, by entering your e -mail address below, so that every new edition lands in your inbox!
And his patience will be rewarded in the coming weeks with the potential that a deal agreed at the end of this month by the next race in Belgium. Russell did not make contact at all with Red Bull or other teams about a chair of 2026, further proof of his conviction that he does not have to make anything.
The real problem of Red Bull is their car, which remains far too temperamental. There are certain numbers and conditions where it is good enough for Verstappen to struggle it in position, as he did at Silverstone. But, only a week earlier in Austria, even before he was taken by Kimi Antonelli in the first round, Red Bull was nowhere on the circuit that bears their name.
Read more: British Grand Prix: F1 at Silverstone and the £ 16 billion industry that is ‘part of Britain Britain’Read more: Martin Brundle says that F1 driver could have been disqualified for ‘crazy’ promotions at British GP
The situation is not helped by their continuous search for a second driver who can even come close to Verstappen. Exciting a struggling Liam Lawson for the more experienced Yuki Tsunoda was logical at that time. But Red Bull is still without a second driver who can offer round times that their engineers can use as a comparison with the data from Verstappen.
And that makes it very difficult to develop their car. Tsunoda qualified on Saturday 12th in Silverstone with a round time half a second slower than the efforts of Verstappen in Q2. The polar round of the Dutchman was almost a full second faster than the best effort of his teammate.
Sky Sports launches a discount on Formula 1 package
£ 43
£ 35
Air
Get Sky Sports here
Formula 1 fans can watch Every exercise, qualifying and racing live with Sky’s new Essential TV and air sports Bundle in a new deal that saves £ 192.
In addition to Sky Sports Access, this includes more than 100 TV channels and free subscriptions on Netflix and Discovery+.
It is of course no problem that is exclusive to Tsunoda. He, Lawson, Sergio Perez, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly have all wilt among the spotlight for the past six years. And then there is the engine. Red Bull build their own for 2026, which they have never done before.
Senior figures for the team really believe that it will be “competitive” – that is the word they use a lot. But sources are not particularly certain that it will be good enough to win races next year. And if that happens, they may have to be really worried about the future of Verstappen.
#Red #Bulls #real #emergency #situation #Max #Verstappen #Mercedes #Reality #light