David Coulthard has handed Max Verstappen surprising career advice, should he, in the future, opt to leave Red Bull but remain in Formula 1.
The four-time World Champion has been less than delighted with the start to his 2026 so far, amid the start of F1’s new regulations cycle.
An overall unhappiness with the direction the sport has taken with its further electrification, coupled with Red Bull’s tough start to the season, has not left the Dutchman enthralled.
Verstappen’s season has been compounded further by the impending exit of race engineer and friend Gianpiero Lambiase to rivals McLaren.
And his extracurricular activities in GT3 racing, coupled with his outspoken comments about his future, have led to fraught debate about whether he will retire from the sport.
Across last season, rumours were rife that Verstappen was holding talks with Mercedes about a potential switch for 2026.
However, despite committing to Red Bull, these rumours have not entirely gone away, and have no doubt been aided by racing a Mercedes in his sportscar exploits.
But Coulthard, speaking on the Up to Speed podcast, believes that there might be one other team that he would be better suited to.
“I think that Max actually, as a shoo-in, fits better to the Ferrari world than the Mercedes world,” he said.
“I know that they have this good relationship and I know that he’s racing a Mercedes in the GT3 events that he does.
“But the freedom to be Max, I think would be a more comfortable fit at Ferrari because you would just turn up, drive quickly, presumably win the races and then head home.”
Verstappen may be seen as a potential Michael Schumacher-esque figure, too, entering Ferrari at a lower ebb and leading a structural and cultural change to see it return to the top.
READ MORE – George Russell issued ‘alarm bells’ warning after early F1 slump
Discussion about this post