Button predicts frustrated Verstappen will seek Red Bull exit for Mercedes

Jenson Button has predicted that Max Verstappen will actively seek to leave Red Bull, arguing that the four-time world champion is frustrated and isolated within a team that has undergone significant personnel changes around him.

The 2009 Formula 1 champion pointed to an exit clause in Verstappen’s contract, understood to potentially activate at the summer break if the Dutchman is not inside the top two in the drivers’ championship, as the likely trigger for a departure.

“If his management weren’t asking around, they’re not doing their job properly,” Button said. “I’m sure there are two teams that he’d be interested in: McLaren, possibly, and obviously the big one at the moment, Mercedes. All drivers have contracts, but money talks. There’s always a way of moving a driver on to somewhere else.”

Button described Verstappen as putting on a brave public face while privately struggling with the upheaval at Milton Keynes. “I think he sounds really frustrated at the moment. 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 within that team for him. Everyone’s brand new around him. So I think he’ll be looking elsewhere. Yeah, I really do for next year.”

For Button, the destination of choice is clear. Mercedes have won seven of the first nine grands prix of the 2026 season and currently lead the constructors’ standings, making them the standout option in his view.

“The team that, if I was his management, I would want to put him in is Mercedes, obviously alongside Kimi [Antonelli] or alongside George [Russell], whichever one they choose to move on,” Button said. “You have to be ruthless. You’ve got to be selfish in his position because you know he’s a lot further into his career.”