The next Verstappen contract has stopped looking like a rumour. It is a three-way conversation, and Red Bull has to talk itself back into it.

“At the moment, there’s a lot of gossip going on, a lot of discussions going on,” Berger told Formula1.com, naming McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull as the three teams in play for Verstappen’s 2027 seat.

He put the whole decision on one line.

“Max needs to see if there is any possibility for him to continue to win the World Championship, already next year,” Berger said.

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The performance clause is already open

Verstappen sits sixth in the drivers’ championship on 109 points after the Hungarian Grand Prix, 110 behind Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli. Red Bull are fourth in the constructors’ table on 177 points, still without a race win in 2026.

Verstappen’s Red Bull contract runs through 2028, but it carries a performance clause tied to where he sits at the summer break. Outside the top two opens the door for 2027. Sixth place has taken care of that.

Berger’s read is that the next six weeks decide how Verstappen uses the opening.

“After the summer break, we will see if Red Bull have fixed their reliability issues, and who in the second half of the season is the frontrunner,” he said.

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Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has conceded the team is fielding calls from “good drivers”, while insisting he expects Verstappen to stay.

Verstappen still calls Red Bull family

Verstappen has kept his own comments narrow, and softer than the market noise around him.

“This team is like a second family to me,” he told reporters going into the break.

“I’m just trying to understand our car a bit better, and get back to winning ways.”

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The 28-year-old also dismissed the alternative that is not one of Berger’s three teams.

“Of course I can easily stop, but I love racing,” Verstappen said.

McLaren hired Verstappen’s old race engineer

McLaren is the challenger with the most visible groundwork. In April the team announced the signing of Verstappen’s former Red Bull race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase as chief racing officer, arriving no later than 2028.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has publicly protected Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, while leaving a deliberate crack in the door.

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“If for some strange reason someone slipped on a banana peel getting out of the tub, then of course Max is a four-time world champion,” Brown told Sky Sports F1.

Mercedes remains on Berger’s list too, with Antonelli long-term and only George Russell’s seat theoretically up for negotiation.

Formula 1 resumes at Zandvoort on 23 August.

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