Kravitz speculates on Verstappen's future: 'This is crucial for him'

While there is still no certainty about Verstappen's future in Formula 1, Kravitz has an idea of how it might play out: “I think it's more likely, certainly for 2026, that George will definitely get a contract for another year and then Max will see how it goes. The crucial question is what the Red Bull engine will look like next year. Will it be good enough for Max to think ‘Okay, I can live with this, with three times as much hybrid recovery and power as they have now’? Mercedes has always been very good in terms of power units, so Red Bull Technologies and their Powertrains will absolutely have to be top-notch.”

According to Kravitz, Russell will feel fairly sure about his Mercedes seat: “George will think: 'I can probably stay longer.' But it still remains open. It's about ‘27, as we already said, there it's still open.”

For now, there is still a lot of uncertainty about Verstappen’s future. The Dutchman, appreciating the dismissal of Horner as one of his wishes, as GPblog understands, still sees a possibility of leaving Red Bull Racing. This has to do with the outlook for the coming season. If it is not good, then Verstappen may decide to move to Mercedes after all.

On Friday, Verstappen’s plane was in Sardinia. Ralf Schumacher suggested days before the Dutchman’s visit to Italy that ‘there was a reason that both Wolff’s yacht and Verstappen’s were in Sardinia’. For now, it is speculation about the reason for at least the plane of the Red Bull driver's visit.