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Max Verstappen could stay at Red Bull in the capacity of an ambassador if he decides to vacate his Formula 1 seat, according to a report.
Verstappen is considering his future in the sport beyond 2026 after three miserable races at the start of the new regulations. The four-time world champion despairs at F1’s battery-driven direction.
Verstappen is under contract at Red Bull until the end of 2028, but there may be a way that he can honour that deal without driving for their F1 team.
If Max Verstappen retires from F1, who should Red Bull sign as his replacement?
Could Max Verstappen take on lucrative ambassador role at Red Bull?
According to The Race, Verstappen’s ‘strength of feeling’ towards Red Bull means he will ‘almost certainly’ maintain a professional relationship with the team even if he decides not to continue in F1.
The Dutchman has repeatedly said that his preference would be to finish his career at Red Bull. He may do so, but far earlier than the team envisaged.
Verstappen feels a sense of gratitude towards the Milton Keynes outfit, who took an enormous leap of faith by making him F1’s youngest ever driver at 17 (for sister team Toro Rosso) and have given him four title-winning cars.
Indeed, only Lewis Hamilton (84 with Mercedes) and Michael Schumacher (72 with Ferrari) have won more races for a single team than Verstappen has for Red Bull (71).
The Race say that Verstappen could remain an athlete and ambassador – a ‘well-recompensed’ position – for at least another two years if 2026 proves to be his final F1 season. That would allow the team to continue tapping into his marketing power.
The Verstappen.com GT3 team, who won the NL2 race at the Nurburgring earlier this month before they were disqualified, race in Red Bull colours. That was perhaps a glimpse of what a post-F1 arrangement could look like.
David Coulthard and, more recently, Yuki Tsunoda have become Red Bull ambassadors after leaving the F1 garage.
Max Verstappen is closing in on Lewis Hamilton Mercedes appearance record
Verstappen entered his 213th Grand Prix as a Red Bull driver in Japan. By the end of this year, he will reach 232.
That would put him just 14 short of the all-time record, which is once again held by Hamilton and Mercedes. He will break it next season if he stays.
Verstappen can activate an exit clause in his F1 contract before October if he is outside the top two in the world championship, which looks exceedingly likely given Red Bull’s current struggles.
There is, of course, a possibility that he could return to F1 at a later date after an initial ‘retirement’, but there’s no guarantee he would do so with Red Bull.
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