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Mark Webber believes F1, Liberty Media and the teams know the sport cannot afford to see Max Verstappen live up to his threats and leave at the end of the 2026 season.
Verstappen has made himself a potentially key aspect of the F1 driver market this year, after raising serious doubts about his long-term future on the grid. While the 28-year-old is under contract to Red Bull through 2028, his deal contains an array of release clauses in his favour.
The Dutchman’s disdain for the 2026 engine regulations, plus Red Bull’s difficulties adapting to the new aerodynamic and chassis regulations, triggered his threats to retire. The changes that F1 made to the rules ahead of the Miami Grand Prix also failed to remove his concerns.
Four-time F1 champion Verstappen believes the rules still “punish” drivers who are faster in the corners, as they are then slower on the straights. Red Bull’s seven upgrades in Miami at least offered Verstappen a kinder car to drive, and helped him qualify P2 for the Grand Prix.
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Mark Webber feels F1 cannot let Max Verstappen leave as he’s ‘lifting every driver’
Should F1, the FIA and the 11 teams fail to agree on further changes that meet Verstappen’s desires, it is entirely possible that he could walk away at the end of the year. Verstappen will have from August to October to use his release clause if he sits outside the top two in the F1 drivers’ standings at the summer break. He currently only sits P7 and is 54 points behind P2.
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Webber feels Verstappen has “earned the right” to decide his future, if he feels he is starting to lose motivation, given the success that the Red Bull man has had and the issues he is now facing. But F1 cannot afford to let Verstappen go, as he lifts every driver to higher standards.
“Naturally, Red Bull would love Max to stay,” Webber told RacingNews365. “That’s incredibly easy to predict. Holistically, looking at the whole sport, when you’ve got someone like him, characters like Verstappen are what the sport needs.
“We need these people. People switch on the TV because of Max Verstappen, and Liberty knows that. Teams know that. He’s important.”
He added: “It’s really important that we keep Max in the sport, because he’s lifting every driver in the field, and that’s what Formula 1 is about. You have to be continually lifted.
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“It’s like Rafa [Nadal] and Roger [Federer]. If Rafa is not there, is Roger lifting, and vice versa? You need someone who is giving you those sleepless nights, and Verstappen has done that for a long period.”
Red Bull are not resting on their laurels in the hope that Verstappen sees enough from their upgrades and any further tweaks that F1 could make to the engine regulations to decide to stay, at least for 2027. So, the Milton Keynes natives are already identifying possible targets.
It has again emerged that Red Bull are interested in Oscar Piastri replacing Verstappen if the Dutchman decides to break out of his contract early. While McLaren signed Piastri to a new contract through 2028 in March 2025, his deal is also said to include possible break clauses.
Reports have also suggested that Carlos Sainz is a leading contender to replace Verstappen, should Red Bull shop outside of their own driver stable for his successor. It is said, however, that Red Bull’s shareholders want an internal replacement for Verstappen, like Liam Lawson.
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