Coming out of the summer break, Formula 1’s silly season for 2027 and beyond has started heating up. Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen had been rumored to be linked with teams such as McLaren and Mercedes. But on Thursday, he stayed at the only place he’s known.
The Dutchman signing at all was the bigger story. And that’s why it’s so important for the health of Formula 1.
Verstappen and Red Bull agreed to a deal that will keep him as the primary driver through the end of the 2030 season. Together, they have secured four Drivers’ World Championships, two Constructors’ World Championships and 71 Grand Prix victories.
Financial terms have yet to surface, but some within the F1 paddock believe it could be as much as $100 million a year. If so, Verstappen becomes the highest-paid driver in history.
“I am really pleased with the contract extension,” Verstappen said in a statement. “We have the best people and I’m excited to keep working together with everyone to get back to the top again. This remains the ultimate goal that all of us have been working towards and will continue to pursue. I want to thank Red Bull, Laurent and everyone at Oracle Red Bull Racing for the trust they put in me.”
But, it was Verstappen’s comments as part of media day ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort that shed the most light.
“I never felt that desire or need also to change [to another team] to try and win somewhere else,” Max said. “If I feel well within the team here, why should I?
“Because I know that they do everything for me, and they know that I do everything for them once I’m on the track and trying to get the results.”
But was he ever on the cusp of going to another team? Jokingly, he said, “I think I was closer to retiring than changing teams.”
Verstappen is the most outspoken member of the paddock, and he’s not held back on regulation changes made to the car for 2026 that put more emphasis on battery power and recharging it during braking. His frustrations were made repeatedly starting all the way back to testing ahead of the season. After the Chinese Grand Prix he said, “It’s still terrible. I don’t know, if someone likes this, then you really don’t know what racing is about. It’s not fun at all. It’s playing Mario Kart. This is not racing. Look at the racing. You are boosting past, then you run out of battery the next straight. They boost past you again. For me, it’s just a joke.”
At another point, he went further.
“I love racing, but we can only take so much, right? I think they are willing to listen, FIA and F1, I just hope of course that there is some action. I mean it’s not that I’m the only one saying it, I think a lot are saying it, if it’s drivers, fans, we just want the best for the sport. It’s not like we are critical just to be critical, we are critical for a reason, we want it to be F1, proper F1 on steroids.”
In-between F1 races, Verstappen spent time dabbling in other racing disciplines. In May, he took part in the Nürburgring 24 Hours driving the #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 for Verstappen Racing leading many to wonder if retirement from F1 was around the corner.
In the end, there were enough changes to the cars over the first half of the 2026 F1 season for Verstappen to choose to stay through 2030.
“I have to say, after the first few races [of 2026] I said to Laurent [Mekies, Red Bull team principal] don’t come to me with any kind of questions about the future because I didn’t even know if I wanted to stay in F1,” he said on Thursday.
“But honestly, we always kept it very open, and I know, I mean, I love racing, and I think I had a lot of very good discussions with F1 but also with the FIA, and I think we are slowly working towards something that becomes better and better.
“Also from my side, of course, I accepted the situation that I think we’re all in and just trying to make the best of that. I think also with the year that I signed to it again opens up the door maybe when potentially the V8s come in to look at that again as well.”
For Formula 1, the Verstappen extension is a sigh of relief. Having a four-time champion leave at just age 28 would have been an embarrassment, especially if he moved into endurance racing. It would have been an indictment of the direction that manufacturers had pushed the global racing series. Electrification is not going to leave F1 any more than it’s going to leave IndyCar. Hybrids seemed destined to remain tied to open-wheel racing in some form.
But the moves to get the cars back to pure racing will be due in part to the drivers, especially Verstappen. The current regulations are set to expire at the end of the 2030 season, just as Max’s contract is expiring. He’s made it clear that his family is his priority, and by then he’ll be age 32. He seems prime to walk away then. While he’s currently 6th in the driver standings, there’s little doubt he’ll continue to leave a mark on Formula 1 between now and then.