Damon Hill drops 2-word reaction to Max Verstappen announcing that he'll stay at Red Bull for 2026

Former F1 world champion Damon Hill gave a short reaction to Red Bull driver Max Verstappen announcing that he will stay with the team for the 2026 season. There has been a lot of chatter regarding the Dutch driver's future in the sport, given the turmoil at the Austrian team over the past 18 months.

Despite having a contract with Red Bull until the end of the 2028 season, there were rumors about the four-time F1 world champion's potential move to Mercedes since last year. Mercedes's team principal, Toto Wolff, was quite open about his pursuit of potentially signing the Dutchman heading into the new engine regulations next year.

However, the exit clause for the 2025 season could not be activated, as Max Verstappen was guaranteed a P3 heading into the summer break. But speaking with F1.com in his pre-race interview, Max Verstappen expressed his thoughts on the rumors and his future:

"The thing is, people are waffling so much throughout the whole season, while the only one that actually can or should speak is not speaking. That's me, and I do that on purpose because it makes no sense to start throwing things around, and actually, that should be the same for everyone. "I'm discussing with the team already the plans, the things that we want to change next year so that means I'm also staying with the team for next year and if my boat is next to Toto's then the boat is next to Toto's. I think it's time to basically stop all the rumors, and for me it's always been quite clear that I was staying anyway."

On his Instagram Story, Damon Hill gave a two-word reaction to Max Verstappen's comments and said,

"Interesting Timing."

Snapshot of Damon Hill's story...Credits-Instagram

Verstappen's exit clause for the current season has expired and guaranteed his stay with Red Bull for the 2026 season.

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Max Verstappen comments on Laurent Mekies's appointment

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen stated that he believed that new Red Bull team principal and CEO Laurent Mekies has been creating a positive environment within the team ever since he took charge a couple of weeks ago.

As quoted by the aforementioned source, the 27-year-old praised his new team boss and said:

"He's very friendly, he's very open, very motivated, very driven. That's of course what you want to see from a boss, and I like it. It's a nice atmosphere that he is creating, and I'm very excited for the future, what we can do together."

Mekies took over the teen principal duties after last month's British Grand Prix, as his predecessor, Christian Horner, was relieved of his role by the board.

Edited by Tushhita Barua