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Tom Coronel has warned Max Verstappen against trying to force a move to Mercedes if Red Bull start the 2026 F1 season badly, with Fernando Alonso the perfect example.
Verstappen is under contract to Red Bull through to the end of 2028, but his future in Milton Keynes is often a topic of discussion as he has an array of exit clauses in his deal. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff also did not hide his desire last year to sign Verstappen for the 2026 season.
Wolff openly discussed speaking with Verstappen’s manager in 2025, as he strived to ensure Mercedes could enter the race to snap the Dutchman up if he hit the market. In the end, the Silver Arrows signed George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli to new contracts for 2026.
Verstappen ultimately had to stay at Red Bull for the 2026 F1 season as he could not activate his release clause last year. The 28-year-old had to be fourth or lower in the 2025 F1 drivers’ standings at the summer break to have the right to go, but he only has to rank third in 2026.
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Tom Coronel urges Max Verstappen not to join Mercedes even if Red Bull start 2026 badly
Now, with many in the F1 paddock expecting Red Bull to start the 2026 season as the fourth-best team at best, Coronel believes the target for Verstappen during the first half of the year should be to secure two Grand Prix wins and reach the podium in three of the first 12 races.
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“We know how smart he is,” Coronel told RacingNews365. “Strategically, we know he can really play the game. If anyone has excess capacity, it’s him. So, I say, people don’t expect it, but just go ahead and get two wins and three podiums [by the summer break].”
But even if Verstappen were to fall short of that target, Coronel does not think it would then make sense for his Dutch compatriot to try to leave Red Bull for Mercedes for 2027. Coronel thinks the mistakes that Alonso has made in his career show Verstappen must trust Red Bull.
Coronel added on whether Verstappen should try to join Mercedes for 2027 if Red Bull start the 2026 season badly: “No. You shouldn’t give up so quickly. That’s too easy. We’ve always seen Alonso do that, and he always made the wrong choices. So, let’s not do that for once.
“Let’s just stick to the plan, [and] work for it. Just work hard, be smart, and try to grow. And he’ll 100% succeed, because he’s always succeeded.”
Two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso last won a Grand Prix at the 2012 Spanish GP
Alonso has not achieved the success in his Formula 1 career that many believe the two-time champion deserves for his talent. The mistakes that the 44-year-old has made in the market are also widely seen as the reasons why he has not added to his titles from 2005 and 2006.
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The Spaniard won his two titles with Renault, but then joined McLaren in 2007 only to move back to Renault for the 2008 season after believing McLaren had favoured Lewis Hamilton in the Briton’s rookie year. Alonso left Renault for Ferrari in 2010, then joined McLaren in 2015.
Alonso came close to winning the drivers’ title with Ferrari in 2010 and 2012, but a strategic mistake by the Scuderia in the Abu Dhabi season-finale cost the Oviedo native in 2010. The 2012 title went the way of Sebastian Vettel after Red Bull out-developed Ferrari that season.
Had Alonso not left Ferrari to rejoin McLaren at the start of their ill-fated engine partnership with Honda, he might have gone on to fight for the title in 2017 and 2018 like Vettel did for the Maranello outfit. Alonso quit McLaren in 2018, before joining Alpine and Aston Martin.
During his travels around the paddock, Alonso has also failed to add to his 32 career Grand Prix wins since 2013 and his 22 career pole positions since 2012. He last won a race at the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix and he last scored a pole position at the 2012 German Grand Prix.
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