What Red Bull are saying ‘internally’ about Max Verstappen and 2026 driver plans

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Red Bull are faced with multiple dilemmas in the final months of 2025 as Max Verstappen battles for the title while his team have not confirmed their driver line-ups.

Verstappen is the only Red Bull driver contracted for 2026 at the moment, with the Milton Keynes outfit needing to confirm his teammate and the Racing Bulls pair for next year.

It was initially believed that Yuki Tsunoda would discover his fate after Mexico, with the Japanese driver at risk of losing his seat. However, Laurent Mekies has confirmed that the team will delay the decision, seeing no need to rush.

The 25-year-old is beginning to show signs of improvement after a torrid start to 2025, scoring points in three of the last six races and producing a solid drive in Mexico, despite finishing 11th. Red Bull’s ‘head honchos’ still can’t decide on Tsunoda and his future with the team.

It is believed that Isack Hadjar is the favourite to replace Tsunoda and step up from Racing Bulls to the main team. Arvid Lindblad is in the running for an F1 seat, while Liam Lawson is likely to stay with the Faenza outfit, but ‘internally’, Red Bull do not want to make a decision yet for Verstappen’s sake.

Red Bull are ‘internally’ saying they don’t want to distract Max Verstappen’s title charge with 2026 driver talk

Journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm discussed Red Bull’s driver line-up via The Race F1 Podcast. He says that the talk behind the scenes is that they do not want to risk a ‘distraction’ for Verstappen’s title charge.

The Dutchman sits 36 points behind Lando Norris with four races to go. Red Bull do not want speculation about their 2026 drivers to get in the way of what is their primary focus: winning Verstappen the championship and finishing P2 in the constructors’ standings.

Mitchell-Malm said: “They’ve got a bit of a dilemma on their hands, because Max is accidentally in a title fight again.

“And I use ‘accidentally’ because they wasn’t meant to be after Zandvoort when they were talking about Mexico being the cut-off point. That was when Max was over 100 points away, right?

“So, it wasn’t really a factor. But now, Red Bull, and this is a word I’ve heard used internally and Mekies has referenced it as well, there’s a risk of a distraction.

“If the 2026 driver talk, announcement, fallout from it, whatever, becomes the bigger thing, that takes away from what Red Bull’s focus needs to be on, which is basically making as many weekends as possible of the remaining five perfect.

“And Tsunoda does have a role to play there if he can. It’s not just Max’s title battle, they’re trying to get second in the constructors’ championship. He has to score points.

“If you end up announcing that he’s dropped or deciding that he’s dropped or whatever, there is a risk that he’s not at his best. There’s a risk that there’s too much kind of noise around the team in general.”

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Can Yuki Tsunoda still save his Red Bull seat?

With Red Bull still keen to give their drivers time to assess their options for 2026, Tsunoda has been afforded another chance to prove that he deserves to stay at Red Bull. However long he has to do that is unclear.

Many believe that Red Bull have already made their ‘judgment’ on Tsunoda, in that he will lose his seat to Hadjar in 2026. Lawson and Lindblad are said to be the favourites to drive for Racing Bulls, leaving the Japanese driver out of a seat.

Tsunoda’s career could ‘depend’ on Honda and their connections to Red Bull. While they will no longer supply the team’s engines, they are needed for TPC tests next season, plus their financial backing is something that the likes of Lawson cannot compete with.

Aston Martin have confirmed Jak Crawford as their reserve driver in 2026, thus ruling out Tsunoda from joining the team. His fate at Red Bull, as well as Lawson, Lindblad and Hadjar, is likely out of his contract.