Max Verstappen confirms 2026 Red Bull plans after F1 contract clause condition triggered

Max Verstappen has confirmed he will remain a Red Bull driver for the 2026 Formula 1 season. It comes after the Dutchman amassed enough points at last weekend's Belgian Grand Prix to ensure that his exit clause did not become available to trigger in the upcoming mid-season break.

Verstappen has been constantly linked with a move to Mercedes in recent months. Speculation over his future only increased after a dramatic move earlier this month saw Red Bull axe Christian Horner after 20 years in charge.

The 27-year-old only further fuelled the rumours by constantly refusing to say outright in interviews that he planned to stay put. But it was always the most likely outcome, as reported by Mirror Sport on July 7, the Monday after the British Grand Prix.

And now Verstappen has finally shifted his stance on his public comments. Speaking ahead of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, he committed his immediate future to his current team and explained why he had chosen not to make any definitive statements about his plans before.

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He said: "The thing is always that people are waffling so much throughout the whole season, while the only one that actually can or should speak is not speaking. That's me. And I do that on purpose because it makes no sense to start throwing things around, and actually that should be the same for everyone.

"Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama. But, for me, it's always been quite clear, and also for next year. I'm discussing with the team already the plans, the things that we want to change for next year. So that means that I'm also staying with the team for next year.

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"I think it's time to basically stop all the rumours, and for me it's always been quite clear that I was staying anyway. I think that was also the general feeling in the team anyway, because we were always in discussions about what we could do with the car. And when you're not interested in staying, then you also stop talking about these kind of things – and I never did."

Verstappen's victory in the Spa-Francorchamps Sprint race last Saturday, and his fourth-placed finish in the main Grand Prix 24 hours later, were results good enough to ensure he would go into this weekend's Budapest event third in the drivers' championship and 28 points ahead of George Russell.

That means it is mathematically impossible for the Brit to overtake him ahead of the summer break, which begins next week. It is understood that Verstappen would have needed to be fourth in the standings or lower for his exit clause to have become active.

But even if it had, there have been no real indications that Verstappen was desperate to leave. And Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has, for weeks now, been saying that by far the most likely outcome was that he would go into 2026 with Russell and Kimi Antonelli as his two drivers.