Max Verstappen’s manager Raymond Vermeulen insists Red Bull must provide the Dutchman with “equipment to win” if he is to stay at the team long-term.
Four-time F1 world champion Verstappen has won four races this season, including the last two, but this year’s Red Bull car has struggled for performance compared to runaway constructors’ leaders McLaren.
Nonetheless, despite interest from Mercedes, Verstappen insists he will be staying at Red Bull next year, when the team will produce their first power unit in partnership with Ford.
Yet Verstappen’s long-term manager Vermeulen, a regular alongside Jos Verstappen in the paddock on race weekends, admits that he is “constantly monitoring” options up and down the grid for his star driver, who is under contract at Red Bull until the end of the 2028 season.
"In this world, everyone talks to each other,” Vermeulen told Dutch outlet De Telegraaf. “Whether things are going well or bad. Before the summer break, it was clear that we're committed to Red Bull for 2026.
"I think it's the right decision. Even if Max could have triggered his performance clause, it's questionable whether he would have done so.
“Everything can change next year with the new regulations. It's better to wait and see how the field develops and who's where. Based on that, you can then plan further.
“This isn't new, is it? In 2016, we went from Toro Rosso to Red Bull, and later, engine-wise, from Renault to Honda. Those are all moments where you think, 'What's going to happen next?'
"These are developments that the three of us – Max, Jos [Verstappen], and I – are constantly monitoring. And Max ultimately has the final say. It would be a fantastic story if he drives his entire F1 career for Red Bull.
“But that will only happen if he has the equipment to win."
Verstappen now only trails championship leader Oscar Piastri by 69 points with seven races to go, giving him an outside chance of claiming a fifth consecutive title.
F1 next races in Singapore on 3-5 October, a venue where Verstappen has never won.
