Max Verstappen to Aston Martin? Dutch star's Red Bull F1 future in question, says former racer
By Simon Head
Max Verstappen may soon face the difficult decision of whether to stay at Red Bull, or jump ship and head to Aston Martin.
Red Bull have enjoyed a period of relative dominance at the front of the F1 grid, but despite Verstappen capturing his fourth F1 World Drivers' Championship last season, the team was overhauled for the F1 World Constructors' Championship by McLaren, who appear to have surpassed Red Bull as the most competitive team on the grid heading into 2025.
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And, with the new F1 regulations set to come into effect in 2026, Verstappen may start to very closely consider the option of following former Red Bull technical guru Adrian Newey to Aston Martin, who have made no secret of their desire to add the Dutchman to their driver lineup.
Chatting to CasinoApps.com, former F1 pundit and former racer Johnny Herbert said that Verstappen's decision will likely be based on the competitiveness of both teams' cars, and deciding which option will give him the best opportunity to continue his success at the top of F1.
"It will be all about the package," Herbert explained.
"Max knows very much how the inner sanctum works at Red Bull.
"But there is a change now because the relationship that Red Bull have had with Honda, which has been very positive, has ended. From 2026 it’s a different scenario with Ford.
"There's rumours that it's been tougher than they ever expected and it hasn't been as positive as they were expecting.
"That makes your decision much easier when you know that it's not going quite to plan with the power unit itself, and then you know that the power unit that you were successful with is going to be at the Aston Martin as well along with Adrian Newey."
Herbert said that, when considering all of the above, a switch from Red Bull to Aston Martin could start to look very appealing for the Dutch ace, particularly if Red Bull start to struggle against their rivals in 2025. Aside from the clear financial boost that he'll receive from making the move, the potential for being in a better car for the coming seasons may prove to be the biggest draw of all.
"It makes total sense," he said.
"Max is no fool. Max is going to be wanting to place himself in the best place that will give him that chance of winning races in a world championship.
"If all those elements aren't working where he is at the present time, as I've heard on the Ford front, and an opportunity came at Aston Martin, I would be shocked if Max wouldn't bite and go for it. Because he knows very well that potentially, with Adrian and with the Honda, that Aston Martin will be the place to be.
"Would you give up the place to be just to stay at something that's been good to you over the last couple of years? Racing drivers don't work like that. Max doesn't work like that. Max is there to win. And as he said over this year, you know, it's all about winning. That’s exactly what he wants to do."
If he does look to leave, Verstappen may have to work hard to extricate himself from his current Red Bull deal, with team boss Christian Horner adamant that the four-time F1 World Drivers' Champion will stay with the team. But Herbert said that it will be hard to keep hold of Verstappen if the racing package isn't competitive enough for him to challenge for championships.
"Christian has said Max is not going anywhere. I know he's got the contract until 2028 but again contracts don't mean anything if performance is not there," said Herbert.
"Champions who I've known have always had a performance clause."
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