Max Verstappen has been told there is no realistic alternative if he decides to leave Red Bull in the coming months. With no driver vacancies at any other top Formula 1 team, former racer Christian Danner expects the Dutchman to "stay where he is and hope for the better", while also pushing for a pay rise.
Contract situation and exit clauses
Verstappen's Red Bull contract runs until 2028, but it contains exit clauses that can be triggered if certain performance criteria are not met. Because he is not second or higher in the drivers' championship as of the start of the summer break, he has until October to trigger an exit if he chooses.
For some time there has been a serious threat that he might walk away. Red Bull's performance relative to rivals has slipped, and Verstappen has been unhappy with the car all year. Even at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he finished second, he complained throughout about how bad the car felt.
Danner: No room at top teams
Despite threatening to leave F1 entirely earlier in the year, Verstappen now seems set to continue for 2027, especially after the FIA World Motor Sport Council agreed tweaks to engine rules. Danner told Express Sport, via OLBG, that he always said Verstappen would not leave because there is nowhere to go.
At Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton is in form and Charles Leclerc is part of the team's mentality. At McLaren, Danner believes Zak Brown would not fire Oscar Piastri, and pairing Verstappen with Lando Norris would cause conflict, especially since Brown is Norris's manager. At Mercedes, Toto Wolff has Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, and putting Verstappen alongside Antonelli would tear the team apart.
"So where else can he go?" Danner said. "He's going to stay where he is and hope for the better, ask for more money, which is also a nice little extra bonus, and that's it. Then we'll see from then on."
