Steiner: 'The real reason why Verstappen stays at Red Bull? It isn't loyalty'

Speculation mounted after George Russell's claims during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend that Mercedes and Verstappen were in talks.

In light of the upcoming regulations for 2026, and the fact that rumours point to the German team as having their affairs in the best order ahead of what is considered to be a Power Unit dominated era, gave the talks reported by the Briton even more credibility.

However, Mercedes has not been able to make the most of the current regulations, something their customer team McLaren, have the edge on the Germans, which brings into question their ability to build a car that can extract the full potential from their rumoured mighty engines for 2026.

Next year the cars are reportedly more complicated to drive, and 'not as fun' for the drivers as can be deduced from the words of Charles Leclerc and even Verstappen himself. So what assurances can the team led by Toto Wolff offer the four time world champion, that his team is the best destination in 2026?

Former F1 boss Guenther Steiner spoke with Sport.de to assess the situation. For the Italian-American Verstappen's decision was not so much due to loyalty, but out of an uncertainty on which team would actually get a good handle on the 2026 F1 regulations.

"Switch now and sign a three-year contract with a racing team ... and then he might be in the wrong car next year: this risk was too big for him," Steiner said.

Come 2026, if Red Bull's Power Units in association with Ford are lagging behind, and the car's overall potential doesn't allow him to fight for the title, then Steiner sees Verstappen pulling the plug on his committment to Red Bull. "If necessary, he can get out of his contract at the end of next year if the car doesn't run."

After stating that Verstappen would be able to leave Red Bull after 2026 despite his contract with the Austrians expiring two years after that, in 2028, because 'he is the best driver in the market', Steiner admitted to having doubts about the Dutchman's decision to stay put.

"You don't know how strong the competition is," the Italian-American said. And whilst Red Bull is a good team, "there is not a bad one (F1 rivalling team, ed.), among the other teams either."

"There is so much new next year: the chassis, the aerodynamics, the engine, everything. You just don't know who is doing the best job. You just have to wait and see," said Steiner ultimately agreeing with the logic behind Verstappen's decision.