Max Verstappen tipped for Aston Martin switch amid Red Bull warning

Max Verstappen has been tipped to join Aston Martin for the 2026 F1 season.

That is according to former F1 driver and seven-time grand prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya, who is convinced Verstappen’s future lies away from Red Bull despite his success with the team.

Verstappen clinched his fourth successive drivers’ title in 2024 but had to do so amid off-track political turbulence at Red Bull, as well as facing on-track performance issues.

Montoya reckons Verstappen should be “pretty concerned” about Red Bull’s 2026 engine project. Red Bull Powertrains will be working in conduction with Ford to create their own engine for F1’s new rules era, following Honda’s departure.

And Montoya believes Verstappen could be convinced to make the switch to Aston Martin, who will become Honda’s works team in 2026 and also have former Red Bull designer Adrian Newey arriving early next year.

“If I was Max, I would be pretty concerned about the engine programme for 2026,” Montoya told LuckyBlock.

“People think he might go to Mercedes but for me there’s a better chance he would end up at Aston Martin.

“You have [Adrian] Newey and Honda, which was the combination that’s been at Red Bull. And Lawrence doesn’t take ’No’ for an answer.

“If Lawrence wants you he’ll do whatever it takes to get you. He has enough to offer him for Max to think, ‘That’s awesome.’”

Verstappen recently admitted he held “constructive” talks with Mercedes but stressed he sees no reason to change F1 teams before his current Red Bull deal expires at the end of 2028.

Red Bull have the ‘most work to do’

After dominating the 2022 and 2023 F1 seasons, Red Bull slipped to third place in the constructors’ championship in 2024.

With rivals McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all making gains and closing the gap to Red Bull, Montoya says it is the Milton Keynes squad who have the most work to do over the upcoming winter break.

As well as Newey, Red Bull have lost other key members including sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, who is leaving to become the new team principal at the soon-to-be Audi outfit.

“Red Bull are the team that has the most work to do this winter. If they are not careful, regardless of who is driving, they will be fourth or even fifth,” Montoya added.

“At the end of this season, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes had better cars and there’s a lot of mid players who hadn’t been considered who are now building really good cars.

“Everybody is finding their feet with the rules. Red Bull dominated with those rules, but are now the ones who are fumbling the ball at the end.”

Verstappen has continually stressed he is happy at Red Bull.

"If you look at Formula 1, it doesn’t happen very often that someone gets out of their contract. It’s not like in football, where you sign for five years and leave a year later. And that’s not really the intention," Verstappen told Dutch broadcaster Viaplay.

"You never know what can happen next year or in two years, but you can’t control that either, so I don’t really think about it that much. Look, I’m very happy with where I am. We’ve won another championship. Of course, improvements need to be made with the car, but I think that’s very logical. So, I feel good with the team, I can be myself.

"Everyone is also working flat out to always give me the best material. In that respect, I have nothing to complain about.”