McLaren boss Zak Brown has opened the door for Max Verstappen for a future partnership as the driver’s future continues to be a contentious topic. The Red Bull driver recently announced a contract extension with the Austrian outfit and took the expiry date to 2030.
At the same time, though, Jos Verstappen was quick to point out that Max Verstappen will continue to have exit clauses in place, and his future with Red Bull will hinge on the kind of package that the team produces. At the same time, the Dutch driver’s close confidant, Gianpiero Lambiase, is set to move to McLaren in 2028, with the potential of him making a move a bit earlier as well.
With Red Bull on a downward slide since 2024, Max Verstappen’s future with the team has been a question mark for a while. McLaren, on the other hand, has been the team on the rise. The team won both championships in 2025 and 2026, and even though there’s the handicap of being a customer team, the car has made significant progress and has been one of the benchmarks recently.
With every side of the grid always looking to make improvements to their respective outfits, McLaren boss Zak Brown has also been open to changes. One of the bigger ones would be bringing Max Verstappen to Woking. Talking to Telegraaf, the American revealed that he would more than welcome the prospect of bringing the Dutch driver to the team. He said,
“I spoke to Max a few times last summer. Just because I wanted to get to know him better. If I could use one word to describe him right now, it would be a word that hadn’t occurred to me before those conversations. Namely: charming. I bet no one who doesn’t know him well would characterize him that way. But I am genuinely impressed by him. A racer through and through.”
He added,
“The door is still wide open for Max. For 2028, 2029, or any year for that matter. I enjoyed getting to know him better and would love to work with him someday.”
Max Verstappen’s reaction to the 2027 races being shortened by 3 or 4 laps
For the 2027 F1 races, the distance is going to be shortened by 3 or 4 laps, as the increased ICE reliance would mean an increased fuel flow rate. With the power unit balance shifting from 50-50 to 60% ICE and 40% Electric, the fuel flow rate would have to be increased.
The increased fuel flow rate leads to an increased fuel demand over a race distance, but with the fuel tank remaining fixed, there’s not enough margin for completing the race distance. As a result, the race distance for 2027 has been shortened by 15km to 290km, which is the equivalent of 3 to 4 fewer laps than normal.
When questioned about the change, Max Verstappen more than welcomed the move if it helped the sport have a better power unit. Talking to Sportskeeda, he said,
“I mean, I didn’t design the rules in the first place. If that means that we have to run three laps less, I mean, I would run 50% less if it would give me a nicer engine to drive. But I don’t think it’s a big problem.”
He added,
“It’s like I said before, sometimes you would wish that the race is three laps longer, and sometimes you’re happy that it’s three laps shorter, to keep someone behind. And if we have to shorten it a little bit for the fuel consumption, but for overall a better racing experience, then I think everyone will take it.”
Max Verstappen’s 2027 F1 season with Red Bull will put him on par with both Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher for the record of most seasons with a team. What he does next would certainly be something that many would keep an eye on.
Edited by Charanjot Singh Kohli
