Red Bull have addressed Max Verstappen’s future with the team.

Red Bull have addressed Max Verstappen’s future with the team (Image: Getty)

Red Bull boss Oliver Mintzlaff has addressed Max Verstappen’s future and says he’s convinced the Dutchman will finish his F1 career with the team. The four-time world champion is contracted to Red Bull until the end of the 2028 season but was linked with a move to Mercedes earlier this year.

Verstappen has excelled on the track during his time with Red Bull and was the dominant driver for three years after narrowly beating Lewis Hamilton to the title in 2021. But the Red Bull car has fallen behind McLaren, with Lando Norris bringing an end to Verstappen’s reign earlier this month. There are rumours that Verstappen has a gentleman’s agreement with Red Bull that would allow him to leave the Milton Keynes-based outfit if they underperform throughout the 2026 F1 campaign. But Mintzlaff isn’t worried about his star man heading for the exit.

“The most important thing for an athlete is that he sees that everyone in the team is giving their all for him,” Mintzlaff told De Telegraaf.

“And I think Max is impressed with the way the results and the atmosphere in the team have turned out this year. Of course, Max always wants to win and have the best possible car, but so do we.

“As long as Max feels that we are working on that and doing everything we can, I think he will remain loyal to us. He also sees how much we have invested in our own engine.
“Don’t forget that we are an energy drink brand and what a unique step this is. I feel that there is enormous mutual appreciation and loyalty. For me, there is no doubt that Max Verstappen will end his career at Red Bull.”

Red Bull boss Oliver Mintzlaff is convinced Max Verstappen will end his F1 career with the team (Image: Getty)

Verstappen enjoyed an upturn in fortunes during the latter stages of the 2025 season after finding himself more than 100 points adrift of then-championship leader Oscar Piastri in August.

The 28-year-old battled back to rival the two McLaren men for silverware, with Norris ultimately holding him off to clinch the title by just two points.

And Verstappen revealed before his resurgence that he would remain at Red Bull for at least another season.

“Yeah [I will be here in 2026],” he explained ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix in August. “For me, 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 I think it’s time to basically stop all the rumours and, for me, it’s always been quite clear that I was staying anyway.

“I think that was also the general feeling in the team anyway, because we were always in discussions about what we could do with the car.

“I think when you’re not interested in staying then you also stop talking about these kind of things – and I never did.”