Laurent Mekies has revealed that “many good drivers” are calling Red Bull to express their interest in a seat as speculation around Max Verstappen’s future continues.
With the summer break fast approaching after this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, conversations about who teams will sign for their 2027 line-ups have increased, and shifts in the driver market seem to largely rest on what the Dutchman decides to do.
Verstappen’s current deal with Red Bull – the outfit he secured four championships with between 2021 and 2024 – runs until the end of 2028, but it’s widely accepted that there are performance-based get-out clauses that could allow him to move elsewhere before the contract ends.
He has yet to win a race this season as the team have struggled to match the success of other frontrunners like Mercedes and Ferrari. Red Bull have steadily worked to close the gap, but Verstappen has nevertheless been linked with a move to reigning World Champions McLaren.
Reflecting on the rumours over the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, Mekies told Sky Sports F1: “Look, it is working in both directions – it is completely natural that Max gets a call from everyone, because he is the best driver in the world.
“And equally if you are a top team, you are going to get calls from many of these good drivers around as well. So that’s natural. Is it a distraction for us? Not really.
“Our full focus is on getting that car as fast as it can [be] and then you will keep your best driver in the world. And we also see the massive growth of Isack [Hadjar] alongside Max, and that for us is the ideal pairing and we try to make sure we can keep that pairing.”
Verstappen has faced a lack of pace, poor reliability, and unpredictable crashes caused by a faulty rear wing that Red Bull replaced in Belgium, where he clinched his third podium finish of the season.
While they haven’t been able to consistently challenge Mercedes, the team demonstrated last year that they can make remarkable progress over a short period of time, as Verstappen overhauled a 104-point deficit to end the season just two points away from a fifth title.
“Red Bull Racing’s objective is only one – to win,” Mekies added. “And it is the same objective that Max has. It is not about how we can prove to him we can win, we are here to win anyhow.
“So, it is the same group of people that have done the incredible turnaround last year, that was a few months ago.
“It is the same group of people that despite that late push has managed to sub nearly one second off our competition, and they were not waiting for us in these last few races.
“So now we are in the heart of it, the last few tenths, the most difficult ones to get. But what we need to do is continue to work as a united group and that’s how we will produce the best results.”
