Max Verstappen’s future team in Formula 1 remains undecided, and Guenther Steiner believes Red Bull still has an advantage as he makes his next move.
The four-time World Champion has a contract with Red Bull until 2028. However, with the exit clauses in his contract, Verstappen could leave the team sooner if the opportunity arises. Every team might want the Dutchman in their car, but the question of which team he would join remains to be seen.
The 2026 F1 season looked to be dominated by Mercedes early on. But as the other teams took steps forward, their momentum dipped. It leaves the window of opportunity open for other teams and drivers to bounce back after the summer break. Still, while the FIA deemed Red Bull to have the “benchmark” engine, the team struggled.
Red Bull’s season continued to be hit by issues, raising questions about Verstappen’s future with the team.
Former Haas Team Principal and ex-Red Bull Technical Operations Director Guenther Steiner believes that the difficulty of Verstappen’s future lies in the fact that there are not many teams better than Red Bull.
“If Max goes somewhere, obviously he wants to go somewhere which is better than Red Bull, and there’s not many teams around better than Red Bull.
“Maybe Red Bull in the moment is not where they want to be, you know, at the forefront like they were a few years ago, but it’s still one of the big four good teams.
“I think at Ferrari, the seats are filled. At Mercedes, I think they’ve found now the next Max Verstappen, so maybe they don’t need the real Max Verstappen at the moment.
“Then it was McLaren, but McLaren, until a few races ago, it was like, ‘Are they really better than Red Bull?’”
‘Red Bull has got one advantage’
Steiner laid out the possible roadblocks for some of the front-running teams that have locked in their driver line-ups. Afterwards, the former Haas Team Principal continued to explain why he believes Red Bull still has the advantage.
“Because I think Red Bull has got one advantage; they’ve got their own engine now, which is an advantage, if you have got the works engine,” Steiner said.
“I mean, McLaren is doing very well having a Mercedes customer engine. But in the end, that would be the only possibility. And I don’t know if that possibility even exists.
“There was the rumour that maybe Oscar [Piastri] could go to Red Bull.
“But I think that is the biggest thing for Max. If Max goes somewhere, he wants to go to the best team around.”
While the Milton Keynes-based team has its problems this season, they still look to be ahead of the likes of McLaren. Despite rumours of a possible Piastri-Verstappen switch, Steiner does not see the four-time World Champion at the papaya team.
Undoubtedly, the Dutchman will weigh his options and assess where the best opportunity for a fifth World Championship lies.
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