Has Max Verstappen still got something left in the tank?

We all know that Max Verstappen has not had the best run of results this season. But could this be due to the new regulations? Red Bull not being good enough? Or is Max simply having “bad luck”?

His history in F1 has most certainly seen many highs but very few lows thus far — from him being the youngest ever driver to start and win a race (17 years and 166 days;18 years and 228 days), to becoming the most dominant driver on the grid during the 2022 and 2023 seasons (with 15 and 19 wins, respectively). His 2023 season was the closest we have ever seen to F1 perfection, with him winning an astonishing 86% of the races.

However, after a dominant season by McLaren in 2025, which saw them finish 364 points ahead of second-place Mercedes, Max was riding off an amazing second half of the season, getting 256 points from the final 12 races compared to 165 from the first 12. His miraculous comeback in the championship saw him go from 70 points behind Lando Norris and 104 points behind Oscar Piastri after the Dutch Grand Prix (race 15) to 2 points behind Lando and 11 points ahead of Oscar at the end of the season after 24 races.

Whilst Max is outclassing his teammate, Isack Hadjar, by a margin of 12-4 in terms of points, qualifying tells a completely different story.

Fast forward to 2026, and we now have a rocket ship in Mercedes’ hands. Red Bull, having adapted pretty poorly, scored only 16 points in the first three races and now sits in 6th place in the WCC, meaning that if this poor form continues, they are looking at their worst result since 2008. Max’s 2026 results are 6th in Australia, a DNF in China, and 8th in Japan, placing him on 12 points. Whilst he is outclassing his teammate, Isack Hadjar, by a margin of 12-4 in terms of points, qualifying tells a completely different story. Ignoring sprint races, Max’s qualifying record is 20th, 8th, and 11th (obtaining an average position of 13th), whereas Isack’s qualifying record is 3rd, 9th, and 8th (obtaining an average position of 7th).

The new regulations have come under intense scrutiny, especially since Ollie Bearman’s 50G crash in Japan, where in addition to Max, eight other drivers (Leclerc, Norris, Hamilton, Sainz, Alonso, Piastri, Ocon, and Albon) have given their opinions to the press. And finally, we received the breaking news on April 9th that Gianpiero “GP” Lambiase would be leaving Red Bull to join McLaren from the 2028 season, having worked with Max since 2015.

So what’s next for Max? To answer that question we could perhaps look back to another Red Bull legend who won four titles: Sebastian Vettel. Similar to how the 2026 regulations impacted Red Bull for Max, a similar story was the case in 2014 for Seb, where he had a winless year and resorted to moving to Ferrari for the next six seasons, where he never managed to win a world title. Here’s my view on where Max could hypothetically go next for 2027:

Mercedes (40%)

It’s as simple as this: they currently have the fastest and most dominant car on the grid, which Max always craves for. The probability increases if Kimi Antonelli wins the 2026 Championship, as Mercedes could focus on having one young world champion and one seasoned world champion as their “golden” driver lineup, with George Russell perhaps looking to pursue challenges with another team, such as Red Bull Racing.

McLaren (30%)

GP’s move there would definitely influence this decision, as they have been partners for 12 seasons now. With Zak Brown and Andrea Stella’s innovative leadership leading them to a WDC and WCC duo in 2025, Max would definitely be looking to them for more world titles, perhaps replacing Oscar Piastri, who might wanna join another team after being let down from his championship hopes in 2025.

Ferrari (20%)

Of course, with the chic usually associated with Ferrari, they would want to sign Max. With Lewis Hamilton already in his 40s, retirement is looking likely for him, meaning that a new driver is needed. However, Ollie Bearman is showing promising signs in the Haas, so it is more likely that he will be promoted over Verstappen being signed for a long-term contract.

Retirement / another racing series (9%)

After certain comments made this season, it could be totally possible that Max walks away from the sport completely. He has already pursued different motorsport series under his pseudonym “Franz Hermann,” where perhaps he could expand his “Verstappen.com” racing team to try and go for the triple crown — or he could sit on the couch all day sim racing.

Cadillac (1%)

This is a wild card. Out of any of the non-big four teams that Max would join, it would be Cadillac. With them partnering with General Motors for their engine from 2029 onwards, they could offer Verstappen a large sum which would attract many US fans to the sport.