Max Verstappen admits to ‘serious’ talks with McLaren and Mercedes before Red Bull F1 stay
Max Verstappen has confirmed he had 'serious' talks with McLaren and Mercedes before re-signing with Red Bull.
Max Verstappen has admitted to holding serious talks with McLaren and Mercedes before he signed a new Formula 1 deal with Red Bull.
The four-time world champion ended months of intense speculation surrounding his F1 future by putting pen to paper on a bumper new contract extension with Red Bull.
Verstappen’s new deal, which was announced ahead of his home race at the Dutch Grand Prix, will keep the 28-year-old Dutchman at Red Bull until at least the end of 2030.
In an interview with BBC Sport, Verstappen acknowledged for the first time publicly that he discussed a potential move with both McLaren and Mercedes before choosing to stay put at Red Bull.
"Of course, any kind of chat you take seriously. They're all very respectful chats. There's nothing wrong with that,” Verstappen said. "I felt that staying was, for me, the right choice. You have to follow your heart.
"I could have run away very early on in my Red Bull career and gone somewhere else to try and win. If you have a little bit of patience, you do end up winning. I feel like that's my approach now as well.”
Verstappen is yet to win a race with Red Bull during what has been a difficult 2026 season so far.
"I always said to them: 'Don't stress about it, just work on the car.' Because the faster the car goes, the easier the decision is anyway,” he added.
"I can understand, of course, maybe sometimes they were a little bit worried. But at the same time, for me, I was just worried about here, what was going on.
"At the same time, I was very busy with my stuff also outside of Formula 1. So I never really spent a lot of time talking or doing different things or trying to go somewhere else."
Verstappen insisted it is not in his nature to run away from a challenge when times get tough.
"I don't mind the challenge also. I don't have that desire or need to show in another car that I can win it, or whatever,” he said.
"It's easy to run to the fastest car and then do it all again. But it's not how I am. You cannot be the captain of the ship and as soon as there is something not working, you jump off the ship.
"It's been a bit downwards from the dominant years, but I don't mind also rebuilding it. It's another challenge as well."
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