Priestley Links Verstappen With Unexpected F1 Team For 2026

Wednesday, 25 December 2024 at 10:00

Former McLaren F1 engineer Marc Priestley named a surprising team that could "be an opportunity" for Max Verstappen in 2026.

There has been a lot of speculation about Max Verstappen potentially leaving Red Bull in 2024. After the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the Dutchman even warned that it was an option if the Austrian team sacked Helmut Marko.

However, this tense period seems to have passed and as Red Bull managed to pull through and win another Championship with Max Verstappen, the Dutchman said he has no desire to leave.

The 27-year-old also added that he does not know what will happen in the future, but staying with a single team throughout his whole F1 career is something that he thought could be nice.

Nevertheless, many pundits and experts believe that Max Verstappen won't stay with Red Bull if they don't have the performance to compete at the top of the grid.

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Former McLaren engineer shared his opinion on the situation, bringing up a team that was not considered an option for the Dutchman until now. He told Casino Uden Rofus:

"The drivers market is so complicated at the moment because everyone is basing their move on the regulation changes in 2026."

"You have to choose the team you think will produce the best car, it could be a team like Williams. It's a tough call."

"If you're Max Verstappen, you'd look at McLaren but they have two young drivers for years to come, Mercedes are not at the top at the moment but everyone knows they're a solid team and very good operators."

"We also know Verstappen has had a lot of talks with Mercedes. You could also look at Williams who, under the leadership of James Vowles, are building heavily towards 2026 with big expectations."

"I know for a fact they expect to compete right at the top with the best teams on the grid, maybe it's an opportunity for Verstappen."

Priestley added that it wouldn't surprise to see Max Verstappen retire from Formula 1 if he joins another team, but it doesn't go well and he won't be winning as much.

"If Verstappen changes teams and it goes well, he’ll continue winning, but if he’s not winning as much as he usually does, I can 100 percent see him leaving the sport earlier than most would expect."