Guenther Steiner says there’s a ‘big possibility’ £6.5m-a-year driver replaces Max Verstappen at Red Bull one day

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The future of Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing appears to be settled for now.

After months of speculation, it looks like Max Verstappen will remain at Red Bull for at least one more season.

Verstappen has a contract until the end of 2028, but various clauses in his deal meant that there was the potential for the Dutchman to be available at the end of the year.

However, the 27-year-old’s fourth-place finish at the Belgian Grand Prix meant that Verstappen’s get-out clause could no longer be activated this year.

That means George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli can breathe a sigh of relief at Mercedes.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was interested in signing Verstappen, although it’s unlikely his fascination with bringing the four-time world champion to the Silver Arrows has completely disappeared.

Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has been speaking about Verstappen’s future after Helmut Marko made it clear that he would be racing for Red Bull in 2026.

Steiner believes that Williams driver Alex Albon has a ‘big possibility’ of returning to Red Bull after being ‘killed’ by Verstappen and taking his seat if he eventually moves on.

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Guenther Steiner says Alex Albon has a ‘big possibility’ of replacing Max Verstappen at Red Bull

Steiner was talking on The Red Flags Podcast about the strong recent form of Albon and said: “He was always considered [a top driver].

“He’s another one, a little bit like Hulkenberg, he never could make it in at the right time in a good team.

“Alex is very young still, he’s not even 30, I think he’s late 20s. So he’s still got a chance, but he’s one of them again, which, as you said, was rated very highly, then basically his career got killed by a certain Max Verstappen.

“He wasn’t the only one. But he made up good again, and I think when there is a seat in a good team, he will be one of the candidates because he’s good. There’s no doubt about that. Everybody knows that.”

It was then put to Steiner that if Verstappen did ultimately leave Red Bull, would Albon make sense as a potential replacement, and he said: “Oh, yeah. It’s a big possibility.

“It’s a big possibility that he goes back there, and everything has changed now, so now everything is open again.

“It was not like this before. We cannot have a driver back who has left us.

“I think it’s a new game at Red Bull. And especially if Max goes, they need the best people, or the best driver they can get, you know.”

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Alex Albon is going from strength to strength at Williams during the 2025 Formula 1 season

Albon, who is currently on a £6.5m-a-year Williams deal, has been one of the standout drivers of the season.

He currently sits eighth in the drivers’ championship, ahead of new teammate Carlos Sainz, every other driver in F1’s midfield and Yuki Tsunoda.

There were question marks over just how good Albon was, considering the calibre of his previous Williams teammates.

However, even taking into account the time Sainz needs to get up to speed after his move from Ferrari, the Thai driver has been unstoppable.

Jenson Button praised Albon’s qualifying performance in Belgium, and while he couldn’t hold off George Russell in the race, Lewis Hamilton couldn’t find a way past him for more than 30 laps.

He’s a far better driver than he was when Red Bull let him go at the end of 2020, and would be a suitable candidate to replace Verstappen if and when he seeks a new challenge.