Damon Hill explains why his ‘guts’ are telling him Max Verstappen is in no rush to leave Red Bull

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Red Bull Racing know that producing a competitive car is incredibly important for the short and long-term future of the team.

For the first time since 2021, Max Verstappen will go into an F1 campaign without the number one on his car.

Despite a phenomenal comeback during the second half of the season, Verstappen fell just two points short of Lando Norris, and Red Bull will know they have to take the blame for not being competitive enough before the summer break.

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Before Verstappen confirmed he was staying at Red Bull for 2026, he was constantly being linked with moves away from the team.

The likes of Mercedes and Aston Martin were chasing his signature, and that could be the case again this year if Red Bull aren’t near the front of the grid.

However, Damon Hill believes that the way Verstappen was speaking towards the end of last season suggests that he knows something about Red Bull’s competitiveness going into the upcoming regulation changes that will give his fans plenty to get excited about.

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Damon Hill’s ‘guts’ tell him Max Verstappen is very happy staying at Red Bull

Hill was speaking about Verstappen’s situation on the Stay on Track Podcast, and he explained: “So I suppose a big question then is, Max, can he win? Our Red Bull up for it?

“Have they been decimated by the loss of so many key personnel over the last 18 months or so?

”Adrian [Newey], Christian Horner. I mean, you’ve got Jonathan Wheatley who’s gone off to Audi. Helmut Marko is gone as well.

“And they’ve lost one or two other key people as well. The team has been stripped of some fairly major personalities, but the ball kept rolling.

“I mean, they kept the fight up to the end. So something is still there that is making Red Bull a very effective fighting force.

“So I think, my guts are telling me, that team has still got what it takes. And I think Max would be making more noise. He would be unhappy. And he doesn’t seem to me to be unhappy.

“No, he didn’t finish 2025 unhappy. And what he said was, at the end, I think we should be proud of ourselves. I know he came second, but we fought brilliantly. He was lifting the team up.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

Who could target Max Verstappen if he leaves Red Bull as engine loophole decision looms

All 11 teams on the grid would have spent more than a year meticulously going over the hundreds of pages of documentation that the FIA have produced for the new ruleset.

Red Bull have lost Adrian Newey, who is the expert at finding little tricks in each F1 regulation set, but it appears the Milton Keynes-based outfit may have found a loophole without him.

It’s believed Mercedes and Red Bull have found an engine compression ratio trick that could give them a small advantage over their rivals.

What isn’t known yet and won’t be until the season starts in Australia is whether Red Bull are going to be near the front of the grid, and that will ultimately determine whether Verstappen stays.

As mentioned above, Mercedes have long been admirers of Verstappen, and as F1 Oversteer exclusively revealed, Aston Martin are eyeing a new line-up in 2027.

A move to Ferrari can’t be ruled out for Verstappen either if they end up being competitive, and the driver market is set to be one of the biggest storylines heading into 2026.