Behind Verstappen's decision to stay with Red Bull despite looming changes

10:14, 01 Aug

bySandy van Wijngaarden

Max Verstappen announced in Hungary that he will continue to race for Red Bull Racing next year. But what about the focus within Red Bull? Has it already completely shifted to 2026?

Next year, the technical regulations will be completely revised. The last time such a major regulation change took place was in 2022. A consequence of a regulation change is that the order in the field can change significantly. Since then, Mercedes has completely missed the mark.

Verstappen put an end to all speculations of recent times in Hungary. The Dutchman confirmed that he will stay with Red Bull Racing next year. An essential point for the Dutchman to stay was that the team's sporting performances would improve.

Is Red Bull's focus already fully on 2026?

Among others, to GPblog Verstappen stated in Budapest that Red Bull's focus has certainly not fully shifted to next year.

"I mean, there is still a lot to learn, also this year. Now, naturally, of course, the car has to be built for next year. Of course, that is fully underway. But on the engineering side of things, there is still a lot that we can learn this year.

"So you cannot just say ‘Ok, we are not winning this year, the championship, so we just bin it off completely. Like I said before, there are always things that you can take from this year to next year."

Max Verstappen in Hungary - Red Bull Contentpool

There are still a lot of question marks for next year. Most F1 drivers have already taken their first steps in the simulator with the new car. Carlos Sainz mentioned that he lost a lot of speed on the straight due to the battery.

According to Verstappen, for instance, managing the battery will play a much bigger role in 2026. "It will, and some races a bit more than others. But I mean, that's already happening also now, but for sure next year that will be a bit more. Time will tell, of course, if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

The fact that the focus of the Austrian racing team is not yet fully on 2026 can be seen in the fact that updates have been taken along to both Spa-Francorchamps and Hungary. It's about one package of which the second part will be used this weekend.