'Max Verstappen will stay at Red Bull Racing in 2026'

In the new episode of the Backstage Boxengasse-podcast from the German branch of Sky Sports, the former Formula 1 driver again discussed a possible departure of Verstappen from Red Bull Racing.

Schumacher was first asked if he had heard anything about the situation. To this he replied: "No, I do not know more either. I think Red Bull has made an extremely good move, in this case Oliver Mintzlaf and Mark Mateschitz, by placing (Laurent, ed.) Mekies in this position now.

"That has brought something to the team, it has made something of the team. Depending on the short period, the mood is very different, the approach is very different."

According to Schumacher, this could also work positively for Verstappen: "We must not forget that Max Verstappen has never been in another team in his career."

"He owes everything to Red Bull, so he's not making it too easy for himself and he might not necessarily want to leave. I can imagine him saying, 'If everything is good here, why should I leave?'"

It's a different trend in Schumacher's statements to those of a few weeks ago. Back then he suggested that the chance that Verstappen would stay with Red Bull was small.

He also mentioned the fact that the Dutchman's super yacht, like Toto Wolff's, would be moored in Sardinia, suggesting the two would meet. This turned out not to be the case.

According to Schumacher, Verstappen knows that Red Bull fully supports him: "If you're now thinking about Mercedes, with Russell, I can't imagine that being Verstappen's first choice when it comes to his teammate."

"Besides, everyone except Honda uses the same concept for electricity and batteries. So I'm curious about Honda. They're going in a different direction and that could also be interesting. But for Max Verstappen I think he is keeping it open," Schumacher concluded.