Verstappen says he’s keen to finish his F1 career at Red Bull – but will he?

Max Verstappen has just won his fourth consecutive world championship with Red Bull – but that hasn’t stopped his future at the team coming under speculation.

The 27-year-old is contracted to remain at the team until the end of 2028. However, he wouldn’t be the first driver to leave a team early, and his domination of much of the last four years would make him a target for any team.

One particular rival of Red Bull’s stands out as a potential future destination. Reports during the off-season claimed Aston Martin intend to make a bid for Verstappen’s services.

On paper, the move makes a lot of sense. Aston Martin’s lead driver, Fernando Alonso, turns 44 this year, and has admitted he may not have more seasons left in him.

Next year Aston Martin will switch to using Honda power units. All of Verstappen’s titles have come courtesy of Honda power (rebranded, since their 2022 withdrawal, by Red Bull) and he made plain his disappointment they had chosen to effectively switch teams to Aston Martin when they return as a manufacturer next year.

Aston Martin has also lured the individual regarded as the architect of Red Bull’s success stretching back long before Verstappen’s arrival – its former chief technical officer Adrian Newey. He is the crowning achievement of team owner Lawrence Stroll’s money-no-object pursuit of championship success, which includes a swathe of other hires from major teams, plus the construction of state-of-the-art new facilities including a wind tunnel and driver-in-the-loop simulator.

Stroll’s pockets are deep enough to afford Verstappen. The four-times champion is unlikely to be troubled by the prospect of going up against Lance Stroll, who looks likely to remain a fixture at the team as long as his father runs the team.

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While Aston Martin is drawing top talent to them, Red Bull has lost many top names in recent years besides Newey. They are also embarking on an ambitious programme to build their own F1 power unit. Verstappen knows from his early years at the team the frustration of having an uncompetitive engine and he may be unwilling to risk a repeat.

Following his latest championship triumph Verstappen said it would be “an amazing story if basically I did my whole F1 career with one team.” He has, of course, already driven for two teams, though both were owned by Red Bull. Will he remain with the team who brought him into F1 a decade ago?

Verstappen has often indicated he does not intend to extend his career as long as the likes of Alonso and former championship rival Lewis Hamilton, both of whom have kept racing into their forties.

For many years it seemed unlikely Hamilton would ever drive a car powered by anything other than a Mercedes engine, but he is embarking on his first season at Ferrari. Will we ever see Verstappen in the overalls of an F1 team not run by Red Bull?

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