Verstappen says he will race with Red Bull in 2026

Grand Prix of Hungary

Hungaroring Dates: 1-3 August Race start time: 15:00 BST on Sunday

Max Verstappen has answered all of his future questions by saying he will undoubtedly remain with Red Bull for the entire season.

The four-time world champion has a contract with Red Bull until 2028, but Mercedes had been interested in him and had looked at options.

Verstappen said at the Grand Prix of Hungary: “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 have nothing really to add ever.

“But yeah, I believe it’s time to essentially stop all the rumors,” she continued. And for me, staying wherever I wanted to has always been very clear.

“I believe that was the team’s general sentiment in any case, because we were constantly deliberating what we could do with the car.”

And I believe that you stop talking about these kinds of things when you aren’t interested in staying. And I didn’t ever.

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli will remain at Mercedes after the confirmation of Verstappen.

Verstappen’s contract at Red Bull was already in the cards, according to Russell, who stated that he was “not in a hurry” to agree to a new deal.

Due to Mercedes’ management and employers, negotiations over his contract with team principal Toto Wolff become more difficult.

When we reach an agreement, Russell said, “We will get it done, but it has to work for both of us.”

Something that needs to be considered. What do I want and what do they want?

I don’t have a lot of power in this agreement because we’ve been in a somewhat unique situation for the past few months. And perhaps the last six months’ interests diverged.

However, I have the responsibility to take action and lessen that risk.

The support Toto and the team continue to give me, but Kimi and I haven’t been so assured, and that is contradicting.

Russell claimed that despite performing at a high level, he never had any real doubts about his future because of his work. However, he wants to consider his options over the upcoming three-week summer break.

We are now taking the summer break, he continued, adding that discussions about a new contract have already begun.

Because we’re both trying to get the team in the right place and solve the car’s performance, Toto and I have spoken extensively this week, but we haven’t spoken about the contract once. And that is accurate.