Max Verstappen has spent most of 2026 losing races, and for a while he was weighing whether to keep going at all. In an interview with Bild, reported by Field Level Media on 14 September, the Dutchman said his choice this summer was never really between Red Bull and another cockpit.
“I was closer to quitting Formula 1 than to signing with another racing team,” Verstappen told Bild.
“You either quit or you don’t, so it’s a 50/50 decision. I seriously considered calling it quits. But at the end of the day, I just love racing.”
Talks with McLaren, then a Red Bull deal
Verstappen confirmed in the same interview that he did open discussions with McLaren before choosing to stay, but described those talks as a due-diligence exercise rather than a serious pursuit.
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“You have to take every conversation with another team seriously,” he said.
Red Bull announced the extension on 20 August, the Thursday before his home Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. The new deal replaces one that had been due to run until 2028, and locks the 28-year-old to the team he joined in 2016 for four more seasons.
“If both parties want to work together long-term, why wait?” Verstappen said of the timing.
Team principal Laurent Mekies called the renewal “fantastic news for everyone” and described the partnership as one that has transformed Red Bull’s motorsport story.
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A season that made the decision hard
The context is a title race Verstappen is not in. After Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, won by Kimi Antonelli, the Dutchman sits sixth in the drivers’ standings with 145 points, 147 behind the Mercedes teenager who leads with 292. Verstappen has yet to win a race in 2026 and finished second in Madrid, one of his stronger weekends of the year.
Red Bull’s slide has been sharpened by the sport’s new regulations. The 2026 cars lean far more heavily on electrical power than the previous generation, a shift Verstappen has been openly frustrated with. Mercedes and their power unit have taken to it best; Red Bull have not.
Verstappen said he does not need another championship for its own sake, and he was clear that the criticism aimed at him during the McLaren speculation had no weight in the decision.
“The criticism doesn’t bother me. I don’t care what others think of me.”
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“I’m a four-time world champion, and after my first title, I’d already achieved everything I ever wanted. I don’t race for the history books, but for myself, the team, and our fans.”
He also indicated he does not see himself racing into his 40s the way Fernando Alonso still is, saying he will keep going only as long as he is enjoying it.
The next chance to change the trajectory of his season is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, which runs on Saturday 26 September, moved a day forward to avoid clashing with the country’s national day of mourning.
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