Sabbatical, Mercedes, or stay at Red Bull? Max Verstappen makes his feelings crystal clear about his future

In one of the more open interviews, Max Verstappen made it clear that moving to another team had not been on his mind, as his focus was entirely on getting better with the team.

The Dutch driver and his future became a hot topic last season, and it was entirely because of Red Bull's drop in form. The team had started the 2024 F1 season with a bang, but as the year progressed, the car was caught up by the likes of McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari.

By his continued perseverance, Max Verstappen was able to win the title last season, but this season the challenge is even steeper. Unlike last season, where it took McLaren a third of the season to get to the top of the pecking order, in 2025, the car was fast from the very beginning.

This has coincided with Red Bull's struggle, where the Austrian team has been unable to develop the car as well as McLaren. Moreover, George Russell revealed in Austria that Max Verstappen was having conversations with Mercedes. As soon as that came out, Toto Wolff confirmed that there had been a back-and-forth.

With Italian media claiming that Max Verstappen has given his consent to a move to Mercedes, all eyes were on the Dutch driver to share his take on the situation. Talking to Daily Mail, the driver was quite explicit when he said that changing teams or exploring new options has not been on his agenda. He said:

"I can’t do anything about all the stories that are written up. I also don’t pay attention to it. It has never crossed my mind to take a year out. Driving anywhere else or with anyone else is not even on my mind. This scenario does not exist in my head."

Max Verstappen's intriguing approach to his career

Talking about his career and future legacy, Max Verstappen said that he didn't really have a number in mind in terms of what kind of success he wanted. Talking about how the driver has already achieved more than what he ever wanted, he said:

"I’ve achieved everything I’ve wanted to achieve already in racing and Formula One. Do I want to win even more? For sure. Am I happy with how this season is going? No, but sometimes that is not in your control."

He added:

"People make up their minds about what they think (of me). If that’s positive or negative, for me that doesn’t matter. I got into Formula One wanting to perform for myself and the people around me, not to win seven or eight titles. It doesn’t matter how you’re remembered, at least not in my case."

For the 2025 F1 season, the driver is more or less out of contention for the driver title; he's too far behind Oscar Piastri now to keep up and pose a threat. His future, however, is a bigger story, and it would be interesting to see if there is any commotion.