Max Verstappen will have to “seriously” join Mercedes, not in 2026 or even next season, according to Robert Doornbos.
Although he finally answered “yes” to the question of whether he will be a Red Bull driver next year, F1 rumors continue to suggest that Verstappen’s future is still secure.
Red Bull’s off-track problems have dominated the team’s news cycle this season, starting with the Christian Horner investigation, through Jos Verstappen’s reaction, followed by speculation about Helmut Marko’s dismissal.
But in the midst of this struggle of forces, Red Bull won five of the first seven races of the season, all in favor of Verstappen.
However, the team and its three-time world champion have Mercedes and McLaren hot on their heels, meaning Verstappen has taken just two wins in the last five Grands Prix, with Austria and Silverstone marking their first consecutive defeats since 2022.
Whether those back-to-back defeats ended in wins for Mercedes, the team publicly courting Verstappen much to Red Bull’s chagrin, Doornbos suggests the 26-year-old deserves a “serious” decision.
“He will still move to Mercedes,” the former F1 driver told Motorsport. com. “We are talking about 2026, because it is vital to be with the team with the most productive engine. “
“But I think Mercedes would prefer that to take place in 2025, because then they can say goodbye to a world champion and welcome some other world champion.
“As Mercedes didn’t have a competitive car earlier that year, it was a no-brainer for Max to stay with Red Bull next year, which was still dominant at the time.
“But everything changed.
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“It may simply be due to all sorts of factors, such as unrest within the team, the departure of Adrian Newey and a moment of driving force that is causing terrible headaches.
“There is a lot going on at Red Bull and at the same time we see Mercedes becoming more and more competitive. This team is on a serious streak. “
The Dutchman therefore believes it is time for his compatriot to decide whether he believes Red Bull’s dominance is over or if they can recover.
“Max wants to see if Red Bull can still get things back on track or if the wave the team was riding is over. In any case, the situation will not get any worse,” he added.
“In principle, Max still has a contract, but in my opinion, Max seriously deserves the option to join Mercedes before 2025. If Mercedes really turns out to be that good, he may take a big sabbatical at Mercedes next year and then dominate from 2026 onwards. ”
Doornbos also commented on Horner’s comment about Lewis Hamilton at a recent press conference.
The Red Bull team boss has questioned the ‘reasons’ for Mercedes’ ‘distraction tactic’ of trying to sign Verstappen given that ‘the driver who created the total movement in the market had all the information on 2026 engines and regulations, etc. , and he chose to leave and left a void in Mercedes”,…
Doornbos, however, is convinced that Lewis Hamilton’s decision to leave Mercedes is not a reaction to the team’s 2026 plans.
“Horner can say that Lewis is leaving Mercedes because he is inspired with what is coming up for 2026,” he said. But I see it differently.
“I think Lewis is simply in a position for a new environment. And the opportunity to move to Ferrari only comes once in a lifetime, in any case. So I think Lewis made a very different decision.
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