Red Bull? Mercedes? Aston Martin? Those are, reportedly, Max Verstappen’s options for the F1 2026 World Championship.

But if you ask Zak Brown, the four-time F1 World Champion should stick with Red Bull.

Who will win F1 2026?

But that’s because he believes Mercedes could, as they did in 2014, steal the show as they did back then with their power units.

2026 marks Formula 1’s biggest reset ever. Not only is the sport introducing new cars, smaller and lighter machinery, they’re also going to be powered by revamped technology.

It begs the question: who will come out on top?

The last time the sport overhauled the engines, it was Mercedes who dominated from 2014 until 2020, while the last aerodynamic change was won by Red Bull, from 2021 to 2024.

In F1 2026, Formula 1 is doing both.

Formula 1’s season of change: F1 2026 explained

👉 F1 2026: Confirmed teams and power unit suppliers for F1’s huge regulation changes

👉 F1 2026 tech analysed: The future of overtaking and biggest car advantage identified

Not only will the cars be smaller, lighter, and more agile, there will also be a 50/50 split in the power unit output between the internal combustion engine and electricity

Therefore given, as he has heard, Mercedes are happy with their achievements on the engine dyno, Brown would rather Verstappen stick with Red Bull than swap to Mercedes.

“If you ask me now and if I look at the current situation, I’d rather see Max driving at Red Bull than at Mercedes,” Brown told De Telegraph.

“There is a lot of talk about the cars next year, but no one can be sure who is in the best position. What I can say is that I have an incredible amount of confidence in Mercedes. Then I look at their track record as a motorcycle supplier and at their body language.

“Lately, there have been many parties who want the engine regulations to be adjusted. If you think you’re competitive, you don’t want to change anything. At Mercedes I see that they seem very comfortable.

“Just as we are now about those rule changes that will soon be made in Barcelona. But that doesn’t mean we’re sitting back.

“Am I surprised that Red Bull has fallen back? No, I’m not surprised. When you lose men like Adrian Newey, Rob Marshall, Jonathan Wheatley and probably more people, this is not surprising. And from what I read about it, Red Bull is mainly saying that they will not miss them.

“ut it looks like it. Rob Marshall now works for us as Chief Designer and is a very smart engineer. I see what he has brought to our team. He does a fantastic job.”

Read next: Six big F1 questions to answer as the European season begins