It has been noted that Max Verstappen, whose dominance over Red Bull is under threat, has opted not to put an end to rumors that he would leave the team.Days before Verstappen and Red Bull were defeated by McLaren’s Lando Norris to win the F1 Miami Grand Prix, Adrian Newey’sdeparture was officially confirmed.Even though Verstappen is still on track to win an F1 championship four times in a row, the rumblings inside his team and the restrictions for 2026 may persuade him to look for fresh pastures.F1 Explains podcast host Christian Hewgill said to the F1 Nation podcast, “What I don’t think is a coincidence is that Max doesn’t go ‘the Mercedes rumors are untrue, I am staying at Red Bull for the rest of my career’.”WhichAll the engines are close together. Mercedes, by their very nature, is an engine supplier.“Yes, it’scoincidence. But are we now going down the hill of Red Bull’s domination?
Verstappen and Newey, whose collaboration has been dominating Formula One since 2022, are going their separate ways.”We have no idea if Max is thinking of alternative choices. It’s unclear if Newey will return to Formula One.
McLaren will not have the experience to depend on if they start off strong and perform well to challenge Red Bull. They won’t be able to say, “We’ll throw this upgrade on,” without Newey. Thatwill not be available to them.Toto Wolff of Mercedes, who will have to take over for Lewis Hamilton in 2025, still has Verstappen at the top of his list of priorities.
Even though Verstappen is operating significantly superior equipment this year, Wolff seems to becurious in the F1 champion’s long-term plans.
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