Max Verstappen’s future at Red Bull is under scrutiny as the team fails to provide him with a car that can regularly win races in Formula 1.
Red Bull’s form on track has declined in 2025 with the introduction of the RB21, which is an evolution of last year’s machine that won Verstappen his fourth Drivers’ Championship.
Their struggles can be best illustrated by the form of their second driver, Yuki Tsunoda, who has only scored five points in the three races he’s contested so far, which is less than 95% of their points total.
The Dutchman has been pulling all the weight, but it could be at the expense of his services if Red Bull slips further behind in the competitive order. Verstappen has a clause in his contract that states he can leave Red Bull if they drop out of the top three in the championship.
Former F1 team principal Otmar Szafnauer believes Verstappen should take inspiration from Ayrton Senna if he is uncertain about his future when speaking on the RacingNews365 podcast.
Max Verstappen should take inspiration from Ayrton Senna’s 1993 McLaren contract
Senna had not signed a McLaren contract for 1993 because the team did not have a works engine, had a substantially reduced budget, and was falling behind Williams.
After getting blocked by Alain Prost from making a move to Williams, Senna would agree a race-by-race contract with McLaren, earning $1m (£800k) per race. Szafnauer believes Verstappen could agree on similar terms with Red Bull if he’s uncertain about their form heading into 2026.
“Wasn’t it in 1993 that Ayrton Senna didn’t sign a contract and said ‘Whoever pays me a million a race, that’s who I’ll race for?’ He ended up competing in every race for McLaren, but he wasn’t under contract,” said Szafnauer.
“So, how about [Verstappen] does something like that? Let’s start the season, and I’ll move around if someone can pay me 10 million per race.”
Max Verstappen told to join Aston Martin
Verstappen’s future at Red Bull has been a hot topic, considering they no longer have the quickest car, with rumours emerging in Italian media that team principal Christian Horner could be sacked if they fail to improve.
Red Bull lost legendary design guru Adrian Newey in 2024, along with several other key members of staff responsible for their recent success to rival teams, including Jonathan Wheatley and Rob Marshall.
Juan Pablo Montoya thinks Verstappen should join Aston Martin, given the significant investment poured into the team by billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll and the fact that they have secured the services of Newey.
The team is tipped to be title contenders in the future, although there is still some uncertainty over whether this will happen immediately in 2026.
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