Max Verstappen is expected to stay at Red Bull in 2025.
This is former Force India, Racing Point and Aston Martin referee and Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer, who sees no reason why the three-time Formula 1 champion would want to leave the Milton Keynes-based team.
Mercedes has been flirting with Verstappen over the past few weeks, as team manager Toto Wolff did not hide his desire to attract the Dutch driver even though his contract with Red Bull does not expire until the end of 2028.
Wolff is taking advantage of the current climate within Red Bull with the team still feeling the repercussions of the internal investigation surrounding boss Christian Horner earlier this year, and the latest fallout from the news that design genius Adrian Newey will leave early next year after that. 19 seasons.
However, Szafnauer feels Verstappen has everything he can to see him continue his dominance of the sport, whether for the remainder of this season or next, and potentially become a five-time title winner.
“We're lucky to see a guy like Max, in our day, racing while we're involved,” Szafnauer said, speaking on a RacingNews365 podcast.
“If I were Max, as long as Red Bull is performing at this level, I would stay. As for 2025, [with the] The powertrain is from Honda, and except for Adrian, everyone is the same, you have a good chassis, the regulations haven't changed – why would you leave?”
However, the following year was a different story as new powertrain regulations, resulting in different aerodynamics, left the door open to question which team would make the breakthrough.
“For the year 2026, [there is] Big change, and no one knows [the pecking order]Szafnauer assessed. “Engines are changing too, no one knows that, so huge change then, and you have to guess 'Where is the best place I can choose?'
“But for me, in 2025, I will definitely stay.”
Negotiating silly season
Going into the season, it was widely known that half of the current Formula 1 team would eventually be out of contract, sparking curiosity about who would be retained or leave.
Lewis Hamilton then stunned the sport when it was announced on February 1 that he would leave Mercedes to join Ferrari after triggering an escape clause in his contract, resulting in one of the first ridiculous starts of the season.
The saga surrounding Verstappen has heightened tensions, with Newey also thrown into the mix over whether he will opt to retire or, as is more likely, follow Hamilton to Ferrari.
Szafnauer had never known anything like this before. “In my 26 years, this is probably the silliest season I've ever seen,” he said.
As for dealing with it when you're a team manager, he added: “It depends on the team you're talking about. You can break down the level of silliness, and stay focused on the job at hand.
“However, if you are not good at compartmentalizing these things and keeping them aside, it can have an impact.
“For me, I prefer not to have to do all of this constantly and leave it to when I need to do it.
“Fortunately, this only happens when drivers' contracts expire, and they usually sign two contracts [year deals], [or] Two plus one, so it doesn't always happen.
“Last year, for example, no drivers were changed, and this year there are a lot of drivers out of their contracts, so you get all that kind of stuff.
“It's part of the sport. The media enjoys writing about it, the fans enjoy reading about it otherwise the media wouldn't write about it, so it's part of what we do.”
“I think teams have to be good, I say, at splitting up a ridiculous season and getting on with the task at hand, and those at the top seem to be doing that well.”
