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The first few months of this season were nervous ones for the bosses of Red Bull’s Formula 1 team.
Victories were not on the agenda. The car Red Bull had built to the new rules was not performing as it wanted. Beyond a basic lack of pace, some of its characteristics were the same ones that had plagued them for the last couple of years under the previous ruleset – fundamentally, an inconsistent through-corner balance.
In 2025, the team had been saved by Max Verstappen’s brilliance, the Dutchman putting in a second half of the season so good it was talked about as one of the all-time great comebacks. In the end, he did not quite pull off the miracle that his genius and McLaren’s occasional fumbling made look possible at one stage, falling two points short of the title as Lando Norris hung on.
No wins in 2026 so far for Verstappen; his last season without victory was 2015
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Now, though, as a new regulatory era dawned, such achievements were out of the question. Red Bull was far from the pace, and it knew a title challenge in 2026 was a distant dream.
“For Red Bull, the prospect of losing its star asset was unthinkable, yet at the same time very real”
They also knew what that meant. If Verstappen was not in title contention, then his contract, which ran to the end of 2028, meant nothing. It had a clause in it that would allow him to walk away at the end of 2026 if a certain performance level was not met. And there was no way it would be.
For Red Bull, the prospect of losing its star asset was unthinkable, and yet at the same time very real. Behind the scenes, it was trying to reassure Verstappen, get him to commit to the team, while well aware he was considering his future. The fact that he hated the new 2026 engines and the way they reduced the challenge of driving only made it worse. At Suzuka in March, he even revealed that he was considering quitting F1 altogether.
Now, though, Verstappen has shed some light on what that time was like. In an interview with me for BBC Sport at the Italian Grand Prix in September, he was remarkably open about the journey he had been on in 2026, which eventually led to him extending his contract with Red Bull until 2030 in August.
“I always said to them, don’t stress about it, just work on the car,” Verstappen said. “Because the faster the car goes, the easier the decision is anyway. So that’s what we did. And I can understand, of course, maybe sometimes they were a little bit worried. But at the same time, for me, I was just worried about here and what was going on.”
A spin for Verstappen in the early part of the Miami GP in May… and a lacklustre start to 2026
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“You have to follow your heart at the end of the day. That has always worked for me quite well”
Verstappen spent the first few months of the year exploring his options, and his feelings. He talked with Mercedes and McLaren. He pondered whether he could drive in F1 with the new energy-starved engines. He looked at what F1 was doing in terms of trying to fix the issues all the drivers felt the power-units had.
“Of course, any kind of chat you take seriously,” he said. “They’re all very respectful chats. There’s nothing wrong with that. I felt that staying was for me the right choice. You have to follow your heart at the end of the day. That has always worked for me quite well.
Helmet inspired by Delft Blue pottery for Zandvoort
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“I could have run away very early on in my Red Bull career and go somewhere else to try and win. If you have a little bit of patience, you do end up winning. I feel like that’s my approach now as well.”
“Let’s say it’s been a bit downwards from the dominant years, but I don’t mind rebuilding it”
Verstappen, in contrast to appearances, says it’s not all about winning for him, and that in the end he decided the challenge of trying to get Red Bull back where they were was what he wanted to take on.
“You need to feel well where you are,” he said. “I don’t have that desire or need to show in another car that I can win it or whatever. I mean, it’s easy to run to the fastest car and then do it all again. But it’s not how I am.
A pity Verstappen couldn’t reach the finish line – or indeed finish the first lap – in the Dutch GP farewell
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“You cannot be the captain of the ship and as soon as there is something not working, you jump off the ship. That’s not how I am. Let’s say it’s been a bit downwards from the dominant years, but I don’t mind rebuilding it. It’s another challenge as well.”
Max Verstappen’s driving standards haven’t dipped at all, but in a formula built on energy management over instinct, even the four-time F1 champion appears unable to out-drive his car anymore
As for the engines, he does not like the way drivers need to ensure battery levels are at the maximum level for deployment on straights and how it neuters corners. But he recognises the fact that F1 and the FIA have accepted there is a problem.
The split between internal combustion and electrical power will change from 53/47 this year to 60/40 by 2028. By 2030/31, there will be a new engine formula. It remains to be seen what it is, whether FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem gets his wish for naturally aspirated V8s – which is also Max’s – or whether realpolitik results in it being a V8 turbo-hybrid but without the excessive need for energy recovery. But he knows a ‘better’ F1 – as he would see it – is coming.
He explains his journey on the rules like this: “Hoping that it will be better in the future. Accepting where we are at the moment. Still the love for the sport. Not at the moment the driving. I love competition, naturally. I just hope that in the coming years, towards 2030, it can only get better. Also for the future generation, we don’t want this. I just accepted where we are now. And to start to make the best of it.”
The Dutchman has been critical of Red Bull’s RB22, calling it “undriveable” – yet he’s been a podium regular this season
Getty Images, Philip Platzer
Verstappen describes Red Bull as “like a second family”. But he has expectations. Eventually, he will want to be winning again. The new contract has performance clauses in it. In reality, little has changed. So if Red Bull doesn’t show signs of improvement, the nervous times will start again.
Andrew Benson is the BBC’s Formula 1 correspondent
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WHAT’S ON HIS BUCKET LIST?
“All the endurance races. Eventually, of course, also Hypercar [the World Endurance Championship]. I don’t want to rush it. I want to do it in the right environment. On my terms. And be competitive”
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FAVOURITE RACE OF THE YEAR
“I enjoyed the Nordschleife [Nürburgring 24 Hours]. It was super-cool to be able to do an endurance event with my team-mates, the guys that won with the car throughout the main season. We knew that we were going to be really strong. We peaked at the right time, but unfortunately the car retired. It was an incredible experience. And pure. Pure motor sport”
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ON DOING LE MANS WITH FERNANDO ALONSO
“We’ve talked about it. I mean, look at Fernando. He’s 45 and he’s still flying. Especially for Le Mans, with his experience, it could be a good option. It needs to fit our schedules. It needs to make sense. It needs to be on my terms. And there needs to be a real chance to go there and win it”
