Verstappen and McLaren, the manager denies everything: “There is nothing true. Stay in Red Bull? We don’t have to decide now”

Verstappen, is McLaren there or not? There is no doubt that Zeltweg’s home grand prix weekend will be an important turning point for Red Bull’s season. The team has brought several updates that it hopes will give a positive turn to its 2026 and that of Max Verstappen and the company’s key managers are expected on the circuit, namely the sporting director Oliver Mintzlaff and the owners Mark Mateschitz and Chalerm Yoovidhya. In this scenario, perhaps the rumors about a “secret” negotiation started between Max Verstappen and McLaren, spread by the Daily Mail on Thursday at the Red Bull Ring, were not accidental.
The manager of the four-time world champion, Raymond Vermeulen, denied everything to Bild: “There is nothing true. There have been no negotiations. As I have already said, for now we are waiting to see how the car develops in the coming weeks. We want to stay, but with a car capable of winning.” Vermeulen encourages Red Bull Even in the interview given to De Telegraaf, Vermeulen had a similar attitude, swearing loyalty but with a decidedly non-negligible “but”.
“Our goal is to complete this adventure together with Red Bull,” underlined the Dutch manager, adding: “We just need a package that allows us to compete for the top positions. We feel at home at Red Bull, but we want to be competitive. Max was not born to be in the middle of the table.” In short, Red Bull is called to make a move: “In Austria we have an important update. We hope it will have a positive effect because it is clear that we need to make progress. Max is seventh in the championship, he and Red Bull should not be there. We want to see where we are and how the development of the car is progressing. And this means that we don’t have to say yes or no now. We have agreements and we respect them.” Vermeulen’s reference is Verstappen’s contractual clause, which could be triggered in the summer break if the Dutch champion is not in the top two positions in the world championship.

Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News

2026-06-27 18:30:00