Max Verstappen finally confirms Red Bull decision just days after Christian Horner was ruthlessly sacked by F1 team
The four-time Formula One world champion, whose deal runs until 2028, had previously held talks with Mercedes over a potential move with Red Bull struggling again this season.
2
2
Merc boss Toto Wolff confirmed the talks at the Austrian Grand Prix in June with Verstappen, 27, open to considering his future options.
The Dutchman finished fourth in the Belgian Grand Prix last time out, meaning he can no longer trigger a release clause that relied on him being outside of the top three going into the summer break.
Ahead of the Budapest Grand Prix, he said: "I mean, it's quite interesting to follow all that and the amount of nice stories that came out of it.
"But yeah, for me, I've never really said anything about it because I was just focused on talking to the team about how we can improve our performance, future ideas for next year as well.
"I think it's time to basically stop all the rumours.
"For me, it's always been quite clear that I was staying anyway."
He continued: "That was also the general feeling in the team anyway, because we were always in discussions about what we could do with the car.
"I think when you're not interested in staying, then you also stop talking about these kinds of things.
"And I never did."
Christian Horner was ruthlessly sacked by Red Bull two weeks ago, but Verstappen said in Spa that the 51-year-old's exit did not influence his future plans.
Nico Rosberg in frosty exchange with Jos Verstappen over Christian Horner after Red Bull sacking
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Auto Express
3 minutes ago
- Auto Express
Surprise! New Nissan Micra costs the same as its Renault 5 twin
The new Nissan Micra will finally go on sale on 1 September, with prices set to start from £22,995 – exactly the same as the award-winning Renault 5, which shares the same platform. It's worth noting that the pricing doesn't include the UK Government's recently announced Electric Car Grant, but Nissan is expecting its funky supermini to qualify for a £1,500 discount that would bring the starting price down to just £21,495 – about the same as a Volkswagen Polo. Like its French cousin, the Micra will be available with two powertrains. The base set-up uses a 40kWh battery that provides up to 198 miles of range, and a 118bhp e-motor to drive the front wheels. Upgrade to the 52kWh battery and the car's range jumps to 260 miles, while a more powerful 148bhp e-motor cuts the 0-62mph time from nine to eight seconds. Advertisement - Article continues below Nissan says the new Micra can be recharged from 15 to 80 per cent in half an hour. Versions with the smaller battery can charge at speeds of up to 80kW, while those with the larger power pack can reach 100kW. When order books open, buyers will have three trim levels to choose from: Engage, Advanced and Evolve. Entry-level models will feature 18-inch alloy wheels, an energy-saving heat pump, a 10.1-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, plus Google Maps and other services built-in, a seven-inch driver's display and various safety systems, including lane-keep assist and driver-attention alert. Don't want to wait for the new Nissan Micra? You can get great deals on the Renault 5 right now with our Find a Car service. Advanced trim starts from £24,995 and adds a larger 10-inch driver's display, adaptive cruise control with Stop & Go function, a wireless phone charger, ambient lighting, drive modes, front parking sensors and a rear-view camera. Upgrading to the mid-range will allow buyers to add the bigger 52kWh battery for an extra £2,000, and the £500 Cold Pack that includes heated front seats and steering wheel. Both come as standard on the range-topping Evolve model, which starts from £29,865. It also gets paddles on the steering wheel to activate a one-pedal driving mode, a two-tone paint scheme, unique wheels and Nissan's 'ProPILOT Assist with Navi-Link' system, which combines adaptive cruise control, emergency braking and lane-keeping assistance. Buy a car with Auto Express. Our nationwide dealer network has some fantastic cars on offer right now with new, used and leasing deals to choose from...
The Independent
3 minutes ago
- The Independent
Lewis Hamilton in a ‘difficult place personally' amid Ferrari struggles, says Martin Brundle
Martin Brundle believes Lewis Hamilton is in a 'difficult place personally' after a difficult start to his Ferrari F1 career. After winning six world titles and spending 12 years at Mercedes, Hamilton moved to Ferrari ahead of the 2025 campaign, targeting a historic eighth world championship this year. However, in a car short of pace compared to frontrunners McLaren, Hamilton is yet to finish in the top-three after 14 grands prix. His best result came when he won the sprint race in China in March. The 40-year-old endured a torrid weekend in Hungary, qualifying and finishing the race in 12th, labelling his own display 'useless' and encouraging Ferrari to look for another driver. 'I'm not looking forward to writing this next section,' said ex-F1 driver Brundle at the start of his Sky Sports column. 'It's about Lewis Hamilton, who endured what must have been one of the worst weekends of his career, in and out of the car. 'He described himself as 'useless' in post-qualifying interviews and suggested the team should change the driver. That was best left unsaid, but he obviously wanted to openly punish himself. 'He's clearly in a difficult place personally, and during the race he would finish in that same 12th position, never really showing signs of progress. 'He sat in the car in parc ferme post-race for what seemed an age and was very downbeat in interviews again.' Hamilton acknowledged he is 'looking forward' to the four-week summer break ahead of the next race in the Netherlands on 31 August – and Brundle believes it has come at the perfect time, before speculating how long Hamilton can cope with this level. 'The summer break couldn't be more timely for Lewis to have a reset,' Brundle added. 'It's painful to observe this great champion in so much strife, and we have to expect that he can weather the storm and return to form given his talent and experience. 'Otherwise I simply can't see him enduring two more seasons at Ferrari, or anywhere else, like this.' Ex-F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has stated that Hamilton, in his 19th consecutive F1 season, should retire from the sport given his current plight.
The Independent
3 minutes ago
- The Independent
Real Madrid were offered chance to pursue lucrative global tour over Champions League
Commercial entities floated a plan to Real Madrid that the Spanish club could pull out of the Champions League for a season and stage a world tour. While the Bernabeu hierarchy were never going to agree to the idea due to how much they value winning actual trophies, the fact that external agents could even consider raising such a plan - including quoted figures of potentially €120m in revenue - is seen as reflecting the fraught position the game is in and a potential move to 'globalised football'. Uefa sources say Madrid did not even bother filling in the club feedback survey for the first season of the expanded Champions League in 2024-25, as they continue a legal war with Uefa from the ill-fated launch of the Super League in April 2021. Madrid are also understood to have greatly resisted plans for Barcelona- Atletico Madrid to form the first Liga game in the United States, should the Spanish domestic competition eventually make the long-anticipated leap to playing games abroad. The details come in the paperback update to this writer's book, 'States of Play: how sportswashing took over football', released on Thursday 7 August. A new chapter delves into football in 'the age of authoritarianism', taking in Fifa president Gianni Infantino 's relationship with Donald Trump, as well as how billionaires' impact on the sport is now starting to echo the real world. Those in football even have a phrase for the latter, which is 'billionaire idiot syndrome'. That is the dynamic of figures who became extremely wealthy in one field believing that affords them expertise in all areas, including football. Some managers have even complained of owners sending them proposed team line-ups, offering a modern spin on an old-fashioned problem. The chapter outlines a growing fear in the sport that all of these forces are going to create a fully 'globalised game', where domestic leagues gradually decline in prominence against new competitions like the expanded Club World Cup. Only emphasising Infantino's burgeoning individual relationship with the Trump administration, the Fifa Council - notionally the most powerful body in the organisation - had no advance knowledge that Ivanka Trump would be opening the draw for the Club World Cup in December 2024. It is also reported that Sir Jim Ratcliffe 's initial idea for his first few months of minority ownership of Manchester United was to culminate with Gareth Southgate 's appointment, but the former England manager did not want to discuss another role before Euro 2024. Ratcliffe wanted to make drastic changes in the first four months of his time at Old Trafford, as much to symbolise how things at the club were finally changing. This was intended to culminate with the appointment of Southgate but no deal could be struck before Euro 2024, so United were panicked into keeping Erik ten Hag that summer. A chaotic first year eventually saw the Dutch coach replaced by Ruben Amorim and Dan Ashworth leaving as sporting director mere months into the job, a process that major rivals felt was 'ludicrous'. States of Play, which covers how football has been transformed by geopolitics and capitalism, won 'football book of the year' at the 2025 Charles Tyrwhitt Sports Book Awards in May. The updated paperback is out on Thursday 7 August
