Max Verstappen officially confirms his plans for the 2026 F1 season

Max Verstappen has confirmed his decision to continue racing for Red Bull in the 2026 season. Speaking about his future at Red Bull ahead of the Hungarian GP, the Dutchman stated that he never spoke about moving elsewhere as he was "focused" on racing with the team in his current season and in the future.

For the first time this season, Verstappen has dismissed rumors about his future. Verstappen's comment has come amid a series of reports of him moving elsewhere, especially to Mercedes in 2026.

However, the four-time world champion quashed all the rumors and confirmed his future plans with Red Bull. Addressing the queries during the Hungarian GP media day on Thursday, July 31, the Hasselt-born driver 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, but." "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 tied to Red Bull until the end of the 2028 season. However, triggering an exit clause, where the Dutchman had to be below P3 in the Drivers' Standings at summer break, could have made things different.

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Helmut Marko confirmed Max Verstappen's stay at Red Bull

Prior to Max Verstappen's confirmation, Red Bull Racing's top advisor, Helmut Marko, confirmed that the reigning F1 champion was set to stay at the Austrian team.

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing talks with Oracle Red Bull Racing Team Consultant Dr Helmut Marko - Source: Getty

Speaking after the Belgian GP, the Austrian executive said:

"Yes, I can confirm that Max Verstappen will drive for Red Bull in 2026."

The rumors of Verstappen's move away from Red Bull surfaced after the Milton Keynes-based team failed to improve on their performance from mid-2024, as the downward spiral in terms of performance remained constant.

As a result, Verstappen is no longer the championship favorite this season, and his hope to claim five back-to-back titles is vanishing with 11 races to go. Currently, he is in P3 with 185 points, 81 and 65 points behind Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

Edited by Sumeet Kavthale