Max Verstappen issues Red Bull future update with F1 2026 rule fears addressed

Max Verstappen looks on at the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Not for the first time Max Verstappen has spoken of “loyalty” to Red Bull when asked about his Formula 1 future, but that doesn’t mean he’s not considering F1 2026 ahead of the big rule changes.

Although Verstappen has a long-term contract with Red Bull, one that runs through to the end of the F1 2028 championship, earlier this year he was linked to Mercedes while more recently Aston Martin are said to have entered the fray.

Max Verstappen adopts ‘wait and see’ approach to F1 2026 rules

The Silverstone-based team, which has reportedly already procured the services of long-time Red Bull design guru Adrian Newey, are “sparing no expense” to entice Verstappen with an eye on F1 2026.

That’s the year Formula 1 will not only put new cars on the track but also new power units, potentially shaking up the pecking order and ending Red Bull’s reign.

Asked about the prospects of that, Verstappen admitted to Formula.hu that he expects things will be “different for sure.

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“I would have to say that in some places the cars might be a little bit slower in terms of lap times, but I would also have to say that when new rules come in it’s always difficult to predict whether the impact will be positive or negative.

“Personally, I prefer to take a middle position and say let’s wait and see what happens. I was the same way with the current rules, watching: is this going to be good, is this going to be bad?

“Fortunately for me, it worked out very well as the team became competitive, but with the new rules you really never know…”

But will it have any bearing on his future team?

Stepping up to Red Bull’s senior team in 2016, Verstappen toiled through the latter Renault years before Red Bull made the call to swap to Honda in 2019, doing so despite the Japanese manufacturer’s difficult years with McLaren.

He won his first of three World titles behind the wheel of a Honda-powered RB16B in 2021.

But with F1 on the cusp of a new era – one in which Aston Martin will run Honda engines, Mercedes could steal a march as they did in 2014 and Red Bull will design their own engine for the first time – Verstappen has once again spoken of his mutual “loyalty” with Red Bull Racing.

“I think the most important thing is not to make decisions based on emotion, because that will always get you back,” he said. “I’m a patient person myself, I don’t over-worry things.

“Of course it means a lot and I appreciate the fact that I have a very long history with the team. Loyalty is very important and I think it is not always there in F1.

“Fortunately in my case, it is there and I think it is mutual for us. Key people stay with the team and now we have our own engine project.

“How is it going? I’m very confident, but we have to be realistic. We have to fight against people who have been making engines for over a hundred years. They have a lot of experience, but of course we have also signed a lot of people.”

He added: “I’m the same as with the new rules, I prefer to take a middle ground. I don’t want to be too positive or too negative. I stay in the middle. You have to be patient.

“A lot of things have to stay together or come together and I also have to think about the future, what will happen after 2026. So I am patient.”

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