3 F1 teams Max Verstappen could target if he decides to leave Red Bull next season

The 2026 F1 season is a crucial one for Max Verstappen. The driver has already committed his future to Red Bull for that year, but it also doesn't mean that his long-term future is set to be with them.

What appears to be the case is that Max Verstappen is going to take a look at where the grid positions itself at the start of the 2026 F1 season and then try to position himself in the best possible way.

If the Red Bull in 2026 is a car that's capable of fighting at the front, then we're looking at Max Verstappen extending his partnership with the team. However, if it's not the case, the Dutch driver is probably going to move on. What are the possible options that the driver has on the table? Let's take a look.

Max Verstappen's next potential destination

#1 Mercedes

Arguably, the first choice for Max Verstappen is going to be the team with whom he was having conversations already in 2025. The Dutch driver appears to have built a decent rapport with Toto Wolff already, as the two parties have been talking with each other in the last couple of seasons.

If Red Bull does struggle next season and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff thinks that the George Russell-Kimi Antonelli lineup is not optimal enough, we are possibly looking at an alliance that has been more than a decade in the making.

#2 Aston Martin

Aston Martin is a team that has, in essence, had all the right ingredients in place, but the chef was missing. This was precisely why the team just couldn't figure things out for all these years, where the upgrades were essentially turning into downgrades.

What 2025 has already shown is that with Adrian Newey and Andy Cowell at the top, this team is starting to get its act together. This season is the first time that the 'upgrades' have actually been 'upgrades'.

The trajectory is upwards, and even if next season this team is not dominating the sport, it would be a place that a Max Verstappen could have confidence in.

#3 Ferrari

This one looks like a long shot for varied reasons, but one of them is the fact that Ferrari currently houses not only Charles Leclerc but also Lewis Hamilton on the same team. With that being said, the Italian team is at a precarious point heading into 2026.

If the car or the power unit is not up to the mark, we're looking at Charles Leclerc, a driver who has already invested close to a decade, getting more and more impatient. If Leclerc pulls the trigger and calls time on his Ferrari stint, there is a seat vacant. The Italian team could go with Ollie Bearman and breed its young talent, but there's the other side to it. It could reach out to the best driver in F1, Max Verstappen, and try to bring him on board.

While it is always going to be a hard sell these days, the allure of Ferrari is something you cannot discount. And then we have Lewis Hamilton in the other car. The 7x F1 champion would be consulted for sure, but if a Max Verstappen is on the table, it would not come as a surprise if the team does give the Dutch driver a priority over everyone else.