Max Verstappen is all set to race with Red Bull in the future, as the four-time world champion confirmed his stay at the Austrian team for the 2026 season. The confirmation has come amid rumors of his switch to Mercedes. Reacting to it, fans shared their reactions on social media.
Over the last few weeks, rumors involving Max Verstappen moving away from Red Bull were all over the F1 fraternity. The direct reason behind this was said to be Red Bull's constant downward spiral of performance. However, many experts believed there was another instrumental reason.
F1 is set to bring a new set of regulations from 2026, under which the cars, engines, and the sport will have a huge makeover. As a result, the teams will have to work with the new design of the cars, as well as new engines.
Notably, Red Bull has been using Honda engines since 2019. However, for the first time, they will manufacture their own power units from next year with the help of Ford. Naturally, there are doubts over Red Bull's capabilities in terms of Powertrains. On the other hand, Mercedes is well equipped to handle such mega projects and is enormously experienced.
This led to a certain section of fans speculating that Verstappen might want to move away from Red Bull, considering his unsure future, and join a team that is regarded as quite solid in building engines. However, the Dutchman's decision to remain at Red Bull quashed all the rumors.
As Max Verstappen confirmed his stay, fans took to their social media accounts to share their reactions:
"These P10 finishes would be generational next year. Can't believe he decided to say 'fuck it, I don't need to be challenging for WDC.'"
"It was always his intention but he only spoke directly now in the summer break suspiciously when the clause should be closed lol yeah you're not fooling us max," wrote another fan.
"Toto rejected him twice no mikey no in jos verstappen's voice," another fan wrote.
Here are some reactions taken from the micro-blogging site, X, formerly Twitter.
Another fan wrote, "Yes you definitely didn't try to get out of your contract, we 100% believe you and this isn't a PR statement at all."
A fan wrote, "It is interesting that he waited until the moment he couldn't activate the clause to make his commitment. Not the best show of faith for Red Bull."
"Yes, the rumours that incidentally played a big role in Horner's sacking can now stop, since he's gone and daddy's content," wrote another fan.
What did Max Verstappen say about his Red Bull future?

Max Verstappen let his feelings known after he confirmed his Red Bull future ahead of the Hungarian GP. Speaking about this in the Hungaroring race media day, here's what the four-time world champion said:
"Yeah, I mean, it's quite interesting to follow all that and the amount of nice stories, let's say, that came out of it. But yeah, for me, you know, 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, and that's why I had nothing really to add ever."
"Yeah, I think it's time to basically stop all the rumours and for me it's always been quite clear that I was staying anyway," he further added.
Max Verstappen is currently in P3 in the Drivers' Championship with 185 points, with two wins, four poles, and five podiums after 13 races and three Sprints. Red Bull is in P4 in the Constructors' Championship with 192 points.