Former Formula 1 driver and Sky Sports analyst Martin Brundle has dismissed the recent flurry of speculation linking four-time champion Max Verstappen with a switch to McLaren, insisting that such paddock rumours are standard practice within the series.
Despite holding a contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028, Verstappen has been linked with potential moves to McLaren and Mercedes. The Dutchman has also been open about the fact that he may retire if he does not enjoy the new regulations.
For Brundle, these preliminary discussions are "part and parcel" of the F1 paddock.
"There are the top four teams – Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull. It’s your job as a driver manager to look around, it’s your job as a team boss to do the same," Brundle explained during the Sky Sports F1 broadcast.
"Max Verstappen is the best driver on the grid, in my opinion, at this time. He’s still the fastest and the most consistent and makes the least mistakes.
"If he might be springing out of Red Bull… my goodness, they wanted to torpedo the management of Red Bull, Team Verstappen, and they did that very well indeed. They started with Christian and it’s just carried on from there.
"I think they did a bit too good a job of wanting to move some people out of the way at Red Bull did Team Verstappen.
"But it’s everybody’s job. It’s a very small world just down there. We’re always in the same 400 metres of concrete and asphalt every other weekend, it’s their job to find out who’s available.
"And Ron Dennis used to be genius at this, he used to have 12 of us on the phone, and we all thought we had a chance of getting in the McLaren, and all he was doing was just hoovering up knowledge that he was gathering from the drivers on all the other teams at the same time. So, it's part and parcel of this small world that we’re in."
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