Max Verstappen now ‘more likely to stay’ at Red Bull as rumours swirl ahead of Belgian GP

Max Verstappen is “more likely to stay” at Red Bull for the 2026 F1 season, it has been claimed.

Veteran BBC F1 journalist Andrew Benson has suggested that Verstappen will likely remain at Red Bull for next year but warned, “that could change.”

Verstappen’s F1 future has been a hot topic over the past 12 months.

The four-time world champion was linked with Mercedes last year as Toto Wolff assessed his options following Lewis Hamilton’s shock decision to leave the team.

With Verstappen unlikely to win a fifth consecutive title in 2025, his future is again in the spotlight.

Red Bull have failed to fix the issues that curtailed their form at the end of last year, putting Verstappen a distant third in the championship.

Red Bull have also sacked Christian Horner, and it remains to be seen whether that will keep Verstappen in the team or give him another reason to leave.

Mercedes have been the favourites to sign Verstappen, given that George Russell and Kimi Antonelli are out of contract at the end of the season.

Aston Martin are likely to be interested in Verstappen.

However, they have Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll locked down for next year.

Aston Martin recently signed Adrian Newey as their managing technical partner, while Honda will provide them with engines next year.

Where will Verstappen end up?

As it stands, Aston Martin appears to be off the table for 2026.

Mercedes’ interest remains, but Benson thinks Max Verstappen staying at Red Bull is most likely at this stage.

“Aston Martin already have two drivers committed for 2026,” he wrote.

“Fernando Alonso’s contract runs out at the end of next season, and Lance Stroll will drive there for as long as he wants.

“Stroll is the son of the owner, Lawrence Stroll, and the team effectively exists for him. That means that if Verstappen were to want to leave Red Bull for Aston Martin, an arrangement would have to be reached with Alonso.

“Given that Alonso gets his first chance to drive an Adrian Newey-designed car next year, the chances of him being especially amenable to that are low. Any pay-off in such circumstances would have to be very large indeed, one can imagine.

“Having said all of that, and while nothing is impossible in F1, and one can always be surprised, there does not seem to be any movement in this direction at the moment.

“If Verstappen is to leave Red Bull, it is most likely to be to Mercedes. Whether he will, remains an open question for now.

“My sense from little bits of information from here and there is that at this stage Verstappen is more likely to stay at Red Bull than not. But of course that could change.”