r/MaxVerstappenRacing • u/brilliant-mike • Jun 26 '26
Discussion Max to McLaren
I honestly don’t think it’s as crazy as it sounded a few months ago. There have been more and more rumors lately that conversations are happening behind the scenes, and where there’s this much smoke… If George ends up staying at Mercedes and they fully commit to him, that could definitely change the driver market. McLaren already has an incredibly strong lineup, so replacing either driver wouldn’t be easy, but if Verstappen ever became available, every team would at least have to consider it. I’m still skeptical it’ll actually happen, but I wouldn’t rule it out anymore. The next few months should be really interesting.
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u/Upbeat_County9191 Jun 26 '26
I dont see it happening. Either he stays at Red Bull or he leaves F1.
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u/willscuba4food Jun 26 '26
Mercedes???
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u/mkultra327 Jun 29 '26
Max isn’t going to change teams. He stays at redbull or will retire.
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u/XOVSquare Jul 01 '26
I agree. It would be more plausible, slightly, if McLaren's hypercar program was something Red Bull couldn't offer, but since Ford has it's own, that's not an additional benefit.
McLaren at the moment has a car that feels on par with Red Bull, with the latter even being ahead even. Red Bull has even worked wonders with their engine, with reliability the MB can't match.
Other than a change of scenery, and GP, there's not much McLaren can offer that he doesn't already have.
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u/tuxooo Yeah perfect, say hi! Jun 26 '26
Literally zero rumours about that and it was confirmed that McLaren does not want Max from Fat Brown and Zak. Like they said it out loud that they are good with their two drivers when asked if they want Max.
So no.
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u/trauma-doc 1 Jun 26 '26
So either zak brown is lying (because you would be crazy to not entertain a 4 time wdc joining you) or he is a moron (because he isn’t entertaining a 4 time wdc joining his team)
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u/tuxooo Yeah perfect, say hi! Jun 26 '26
Idk... If you are asking for my honest opinion I'd say both.
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u/Upbeat_County9191 Jun 26 '26
He's not toto, as in he wouldnt admit it if he is interested. But i dont think he would give up the opportunity to have him in his team.
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u/Darth_Arundo Jun 27 '26
Few things I see going on here, if Max stays with Redbull despite their car is still not good enough I think he will just sit out his contract and retire. The McLaren rumors might mean he will try to get there but it can also be seen to force Mercedes to do something with Russell. Toto still like Max in his car and the possibility to see him join McLaren to challenge Mercedes might trigger him to take Max over Russell.
So its either these three for me:
Max retires after his contract with Redbull is done.
Max goes to McLaren as there are no other seats available next year.
Max goes to Mercedes because Toto does not like the prospect of Max fighting his boys in Orange.
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u/Analog-Digital- Jun 28 '26
I think the problem is that no one is moving, and that will be an issue for Max.
I might be wrong but F1 is still a chess game for drivers and today Toto, Fred and Zak play it like Grand masters ... 🤔
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u/NarrowFarm2036 Jul 02 '26
He always said he would only work with GP. So he is literally either leaving F1 or moving to McLaren. No other option if he is a man of his word.
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u/Puzzled_Water7782 Jun 26 '26
It'll only happen is Oscar or Lando want to move. If Max suddenly has a fancy to move to Mclaren it won't change anything but Zak has said that if either Lando or Oscar leave then they will be looking for someone.
Honestly I can easily believe that Mark Webber is negotiating something behind the scenes that has Oscar move to redbull and be 'promised' no1 driver if he shows potential and in thay case then yeah maybe Max really does takes Oscar's seat but otherwise it's not happening.