Max Verstappen heads into Red Bull's home race with upgrades and growing uncertainty
Max Verstappen at the Red Bull Ring is usually a recipe for success.
The defending Formula 1 champion has an upgraded car for his team's home race in Austria — where he's won five times — on the back of an encouraging second place in Canada, where his two McLaren rivals collided.
Zoom out, though, and the situation is much more uncertain.
Verstappen remains at risk of a one-race ban for too many penalty points, Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda is usually too far adrift to help him, and Verstappen's own future is far from clear.
'I don't think we need to talk about that,' Verstappen said Thursday when asked to confirm whether he'll stay with the team for 2026. 'It's not really in my mind. It's just driving and trying to push the performance, you know. And then we focus on next year.'
What are Verstappen's options?
Verstappen has a long-term contract through 2028, so in theory his Red Bull seat should be one of the safest on the grid. However, the deal has performance-related clauses which could reportedly allow a move.
In that case, the most obvious option could be Mercedes, which has yet to confirm either driver for 2026. That would mean Verstappen teaming up with an old foe in Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who'd also have to choose to drop either George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
Dramatic changes to how F1 cars look and perform are coming in 2026, and Red Bull has to adapt more than most.
For the first time in nearly two decades, it heads into a new era of F1 rules without design guru Adrian Newey, who left last year and is now at Aston Martin.
The other leading teams are sticking with their current engine arrangements, but not Red Bull. The team has an in-house engine developer, Red Bull Powertrains, but it's switching partners for 2026 from Honda to newcomer Ford.
The second seat
No team in F1 depends as much on one driver as Red Bull does on Verstappen. He's scored 155 of the team's 162 points this season.
His teammates — first Liam Lawson, then Yuki Tsunoda — have struggled all season. That's helped to restore the reputation of Sergio Perez, who was dropped by Red Bull after scoring barely one-third of Verstappen's points last season.
'I know, deep down, they really regret it,' Perez said on a podcast this week. 'And I know that from a very reliable source. It's tough. I have very good friends there, and people might think I take pleasure in what happened, but no.'
Red Bull's car seems to favor Verstappen's driving style over anyone else's, but the Dutch driver says he can't diagnose the issue because he's been with the team since 2016 and has nothing else to compare it with.
Thursdays
Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.
'The thing is that I don't know any better, right?' he said Thursday. 'I mean, I've basically started with Red bull, so I only know one car and that's how I drive. I adapt to it. Is it the best? Is it the fastest? Is it not? I don't know.'
___
AP Sports Writer Tales Azzoni in Madrid contributed to this report.
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
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