Max Verstappen has confirmed he will race for Red Bull in 2026, saying “it’s time to basically stop all the rumors” about him potentially leaving at the end of the season.
The defending champion had been linked with a move to Mercedes and had held discussions with Toto Wolff to understand potential future options, but remains under contract at Red Bull until 2028. His current deal includes performance-related clauses that are believed to focus around this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, and Verstappen is guaranteed to remain in the top three in the drivers’ championship regardless of where he finishes on Sunday.
“It’s quite interesting to follow all (the rumors) and the amount of nice stories that came out of it,” Verstappen said. “But yeah, for me, I’ve never really said anything about it because I was just focused on talking to the team about how we can improve our performance, future ideas for next year as well. And that’s why I had nothing really to add, ever.
“But I think it’s time to basically stop all the rumors. And for me, it’s always been quite clear that I was staying anyway.
“I think that was also the general feeling in the team, because we were always in discussions about what we could do with the car. And I think when you’re not interested in staying, then you stop talking about these kinds of things. And I never did.”
Given that his contract runs until 2028, Verstappen said he doesn’t know if he will need to confirm his future each year, but that he won’t discuss any further performance-related clauses.
“If you ask me that question next year, then yes, we will have that speculation!,” he said. “But for me, I never speak about it, because I’m more interested in just working on the performance of things. That’s why I also never really talk about what is in my contract.”