Brundle backs Verstappen to stay at Red Bull but Button senses a frustrated champion eyeing exit

Martin Brundle believes Max Verstappen will stay at Red Bull for the 2027 season, despite persistent speculation linking the four-time world champion with a move to a rival team ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.

The former driver and pundit said the kind of backroom conversations currently fuelling rumours are a routine feature of the paddock. “These kinds of conversations go on all the time,” Brundle said. “Formula 1 teams think long-term with their partners and engine suppliers. It’s a very small world we live in. Top drivers and top teams are always chatting. It’s the manager’s job to find out what’s available, and the team bosses’ job to find out who might be available down the road.”

Brundle nonetheless stopped short of dismissing the noise entirely. “My gut feeling is he will be at Red Bull next year, but there’s no smoke without fire,” he added.

Verstappen himself gave little away during press conference and media sessions at Spa-Francorchamps, declining to address the speculation directly.

2009 world champion Jenson Button offered a notably different reading of the situation. Button argued that Verstappen must be “ruthless” and “selfish” in reaching whatever decision he makes — and suggested the Dutchman’s mood inside the team is darker than his public demeanour implies.

“I think that Max at Red Bull sounds really frustrated at the moment,” Button said. “He puts a happy face on a lot of the time, but I think he’s very frustrated with the situation. A lot of people that he’s worked with for many years and won championships with have left and gone elsewhere. It must be very strange. It must feel a bit lonely in that team for him. Everyone’s brand new around him, so I think he’ll be looking elsewhere, I really do, for next year.”

The contrasting views from two respected former drivers reflect the genuine uncertainty surrounding Verstappen’s medium-term future. Red Bull have publicly maintained that their contract with the Dutchman remains intact, but the departure of key personnel from the team over the past year has kept the rumour mill turning throughout the 2025 season.