Max Verstappen may be secure at Red Bull for the next few years but his future with the team has been put into question in recent months.
The Dutchman has been almost unstoppable in the current era of cars, winning four titles on the spin with the Milton Keynes-based outfit. Verstappen is contracted until 2028 and given his success with Red Bull, it does seem asinine to think he would want to leave.
However, there have been rumours of a potential exit after the drop in performance from the RB20 in 2024. Despite winning the drivers’ championship, Red Bull fell behind McLaren and Ferrari in the constructors’ battle.
Christian Horner even admitted Red Bull were fourth-fastest at one point, which will not give his star driver much confidence if this persists. Verstappen has an exit clause that could be triggered as early as this year if the team are not in the top three.
Naturally, the Dutchman has his admirers. Toto Wolff had been targeting Verstappen to join Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement – they eventually signed Kimi Antonelli when discussions collapsed.
Aston Martin have now emerged as the favourites to land the 27-year-old’s signature, with talks reportedly looking concrete over a potential move.
Jaime Alguersuari predicts Max Verstappen to join Aston Martin – they are ‘the team of the future’
The arrival of Adrian Newey to Aston Martin and the team’s switch to Honda power units in 2026 have added fuel to the fire that the Dutchman is moving to the Silverstone squad.
Verstappen is reportedly already in talks with Aston Martin and could join the team as early as 2026. Lawrence Stroll has invested heavily in the team with new facilities and key hires – and he wants to add the 27-year-old to his project.
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Speaking on The After Lap Podcast, former Red Bull talent Jaime Alguersuari sees Aston Martin as ‘the team of the future’. Given the strong investment and recruitment at Silverstone, he is tipping Verstappen to leave Red Bull and take on a new adventure.
“He is going to be uncomfortable, he is going to complain, I see it is going to be like that. And the second something happens, for sure he is leaving,” said the Spaniard.
“I see it a little differently in this sense. I think that Aston Martin is going to be the team of the future. I have no doubt because of infrastructure, money and people.
“I mean there is a desire to do it well. Now it has been rushed and urgently because there is a Fernando Alonso ad Stroll Snr who are going for what they are going for.
“The wind tunnel that arrives, the infrastructure that is behind, the backing now with Adrian Newey with the car of 2026. That probably won’t catch it the first [year] and he won’t hook it the first time to win but possibly the second or third.
“But I have no doubt that, the Red Bull we have seen dominant over the last few years, I am very, very confident that the car [that] is going to beat [it] in the next 4 years will be Aston Martin.”
What have Max Verstappen’s camp and Christian Horner said about the Aston Martin links?
Red Bull admit Verstappen could leave by 2026 if they cannot provide him with a competitive car. The team will supply their own engines in collaboration with Ford that season.
Aston Martin are rumoured to have sent a £1bn offer to the Dutchman to join the team. Verstappen’s camp have refuted these claims, but the Silverstone-based outfit’s interest is clear.
Horner broke his silence on the speculation linking Verstappen to Aston Martin. He says the 27-year-old is ‘very happy’ at Red Bull and stresses that they know what they must do to keep him.
Peter Windsor thinks Newey could convince Verstappen to join him at Aston Martin. Working the legendary designer and Honda again would be appealing to the Dutchman given the incredible success that combination has achieved at Red Bull.
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