Martin Brundle doesn’t expect Max Verstappen to have an easy exit from Red Bull if he decided to leave at the end of this season, especially with few obvious options available for the following year.
Verstappen’s future with Red Bull has been in doubt ever since he publicly criticised the 2026 regulations. While the FIA made some rule tweaks ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, they haven’t addressed Verstappen’s main concerns.
Larger-scale changes aren’t expected until 2027, and Verstappen has already suggested that he might step away from Formula 1 entirely until then.
A sabbatical is one option on the table, but so is a move away from Red Bull if things don’t improve. According to a clause in his contract, Verstappen can leave if he’s not in the top two by a certain point – and right now, he’s down in ninth.
Asked if Red Bull will have difficulty keeping Verstappen, Brundle told Sky Sports: “They have, I think because Max has made it quite clear he wanted to see how the car goes and so any updates they bring…
“Red Bull will have some big changes this weekend. So Max will want to see through the mid-season that they’re on top of these regulations and on top of the car.
“I’m not sure it’s that easy for Max to just jump ship at the moment. I mean, Mercedes have got two homegrown talents in their car in Russell and Antonelli and McLaren are set fair with a tremendous lineup that gels very much.
“Ferrari with Leclerc and Hamilton… if somebody springs out of one of those cars then there’s a slot for Max. But the teams can’t – if they’re contracted – and won’t want to boot out some great drivers with a great driver lineup.
And if you’re going to leave Red Bull, for performance only, it’s going to have to be one of those three teams I just mentioned.”
Even with Mercedes securing pole and wins in every race so far, Brundle believes the championship is still wide open. He thinks any driver from one of the top four teams has a genuine chance at taking the title.
“I think it’s totally wide open,” he added. “We have got a Sprint weekend in Miami, so there are Sprint points to be won, Grand Prix points to be won.
“This is going to ebb and flow. I see teams leapfrogging others with some upgrades because there is so much upside potential with these cars.
“Anybody I would say in the top four teams, any of those eight drivers, could win this year’s world championship.”
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