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Verstappen no doubt is hot property going into the massive rule & technical changes into 2021. All the top 3 teams would be foolish not to be interested in him. Question is where does he move?

Red Bull - His current team is building a strong bond with Honda & there is still scope for more to improve. He's the numero uno as well there but this car as of now is still not capable of winning on all tracks & sometimes needs a little luck going his way to win a race on tracks where medium or low downforce is required.

Mercedes - The team's that dominated the hybrid era, who knows won't do the same in 2021 & further. Question is if Hamilton still sticks around, would Hamilton / Mercedes want Verstappen in the 2nd seat?

Ferrari - The most famous team of F1. Everyone dreams to drive for this team. Verstappen said recently Leclerc & himself could work well together in the same team. In an assumptive world this would mean Verstappen would be going to Ferrari & not Leclerc coming to Red Bull. Vettel won't be here forever & Verstappen wouldn't mind Leclerc as his team-mate.

If Verstappen moves to either Mercedes or Ferrari, it would be a huge move. No doubt, keeping his talent in mind & probably preferences too, Mercedes or Ferrari would have to keep their junior drivers in mind too as most of them wouldn't want to be his 2nd driver.

I think Red Bull, see who got it right and then try to arrange a move there accordingly.

When does his current contract expire? He could do with it being the end of 2021 ideally.

Red Bull might want to keep Verstappen, but if they don't start challenging up front more consistently, the decision will not be theirs. I would guess in that scenario either Ferrari take him outright or Hamilton goes to Ferrari to end his career in Scarlet Red and Max could be offered a seat at Mercedes. HOWEVER… "IF" McLaren continue their forward trajectory and become true contenders, they might be a viable and desirable option for any driver, including Verstappen.

Black_Flag_11 wrote:I think Red Bull, see who got it right and then try to arrange a move there accordingly.

When does his current contract expire? He could do with it being the end of 2021 ideally.

This is probably the safest and most likely scenario. Jumping ship going into 2021 would always open up the possibility of making a massive mistake. With radically new aerodynamic regulations, I think you have to give Newey and his team a chance.

sandman1347 wrote:

Black_Flag_11 wrote:I think Red Bull, see who got it right and then try to arrange a move there accordingly.

When does his current contract expire? He could do with it being the end of 2021 ideally.

This is probably the safest and most likely scenario. Jumping ship going into 2021 would always open up the possibility of making a massive mistake. With radically new aerodynamic regulations, I think you have to give Newey and his team a chance.

Mercedes is much better than Newey at creating a good chassis with good aerodynamics. The only argument against Mercedes is "their success can't possibly last so long, so probably someone else will get it right this time".

My gut feel says if he has the opportunity he'll jump to Mercedes. But if it's not a possibility he'll remain at Red Bull.

Red Bull will be choice #2 behind Mercedes.

ReservoirDog wrote:

sandman1347 wrote:

Black_Flag_11 wrote:I think Red Bull, see who got it right and then try to arrange a move there accordingly.

When does his current contract expire? He could do with it being the end of 2021 ideally.

This is probably the safest and most likely scenario. Jumping ship going into 2021 would always open up the possibility of making a massive mistake. With radically new aerodynamic regulations, I think you have to give Newey and his team a chance.

Mercedes is much better than Newey at creating a good chassis with good aerodynamics. The only argument against Mercedes is "their success can't possibly last so long, so probably someone else will get it right this time".

There is a massive argument against joining a team with Hamilton already well entrenched in it. Especially when you are already the clear #1 at Red Bull.

ReservoirDog wrote:

sandman1347 wrote:

Black_Flag_11 wrote:I think Red Bull, see who got it right and then try to arrange a move there accordingly.

When does his current contract expire? He could do with it being the end of 2021 ideally.

This is probably the safest and most likely scenario. Jumping ship going into 2021 would always open up the possibility of making a massive mistake. With radically new aerodynamic regulations, I think you have to give Newey and his team a chance.

Mercedes is much better than Newey at creating a good chassis with good aerodynamics. The only argument against Mercedes is "their success can't possibly last so long, so probably someone else will get it right this time".

I would argue against that whole heartedly and Mercedes' era of winning/dominance has been thanks in GREAT PART to their power unit. The Chassis has indeed been superb, but if we were to compare relative performance between Ferrari, Red Bull, and Mercedes, I think the argument could be made that Red Bull has produced the superior chassis more consistently than anyone else, including Mercedes. We must remember they ran the most underpowered unit for 5 years and suffered with reliability issues throughout that time. Now with Honda they are a tad faster with much improved reliability, but are still down a hair on power, but the chassis has remained a dynamic performing component.

As well, can we all put this Adrian Newey nonsense to bed already? The guy is in fact an elite designer but he does not design Red Bull's cars all by himself. He does indeed have an ARMY of aerodynamicysts that he leads, and many developments come from them and not Newey himself. Red Bull Racing employs around 800 people and a great deal of those are aero engineers whom are paid to design and NOTHING in F1 is a 1-man show.

His best bet is sticking with Red Bull until at least end of 2021.
He will have a full season to assess how each team has done with the new regs.

He could move to Merc and it turns out their car is a dog and he is pretty much snookered.

Red Bull have at least had a car that has won races for 10 years now.

Red Bull starts winning championships again and Max will stay.

Sutton wrote:His best bet is sticking with Red Bull until at least end of 2021.
He will have a full season to assess how each team has done with the new regs.

He could move to Merc and it turns out their car is a dog and he is pretty much snookered.

Red Bull have at least had a car that has won races for 10 years now.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/14381 ... ears-in-f1

If it happens, that'll take Hamilton through to the end of the 2023, maybe '24 season & with Merc's predilection for inter team harmony over inter team competitiveness, who's to say they'll will even want Verstappen if they're still top of the heap & RB can't offer him a championship challenging car in '21?

By the time Hamilton hangs up the boots, Russell, or maybe Ocon, could well be ensconced as the heir apparent to the crown & there may be no passion to get Verstappen in the car.

I'd gather, all things being equal, Ferrari won't be an option, nor will Renault when they start challenging for the championship in '21, so Verstappen mightn't have any choice but to stay at RB & hope they can get back to their championship winning ways.

And if RB can't take get to the top? Could we see Verstappen perennially running around in the 2nd or 3rd best car, snatching the odd win or 2 but never being in a position to win the championship so many think is inevitable?

F1 MERCENARY wrote:

ReservoirDog wrote:

sandman1347 wrote:

Black_Flag_11 wrote:I think Red Bull, see who got it right and then try to arrange a move there accordingly.

When does his current contract expire? He could do with it being the end of 2021 ideally.

This is probably the safest and most likely scenario. Jumping ship going into 2021 would always open up the possibility of making a massive mistake. With radically new aerodynamic regulations, I think you have to give Newey and his team a chance.

Mercedes is much better than Newey at creating a good chassis with good aerodynamics. The only argument against Mercedes is "their success can't possibly last so long, so probably someone else will get it right this time".

I would argue against that whole heartedly and Mercedes' era of winning/dominance has been thanks in GREAT PART to their power unit. The Chassis has indeed been superb, but if we were to compare relative performance between Ferrari, Red Bull, and Mercedes, I think the argument could be made that Red Bull has produced the superior chassis more consistently than anyone else, including Mercedes. We must remember they ran the most underpowered unit for 5 years and suffered with reliability issues throughout that time. Now with Honda they are a tad faster with much improved reliability, but are still down a hair on power, but the chassis has remained a dynamic performing component.

As well, can we all put this Adrian Newey nonsense to bed already? The guy is in fact an elite designer but he does not design Red Bull's cars all by himself. He does indeed have an ARMY of aerodynamicysts that he leads, and many developments come from them and not Newey himself. Red Bull Racing employs around 800 people and a great deal of those are aero engineers whom are paid to design and NOTHING in F1 is a 1-man show.

My thoughts as well. 2019 is the first year that Merc has had the better chassis than Redbull in a while and that was Redbull's transition year to Honda. And even then they have closed the gap immensely throughout the year. If Honda finally catches up to the front two with their PU we might see Redbull front row lockouts become a regularity as early as next year.

Max will be keen on observing the Honda progress. He knows that is where the team's main weakness still lies. If Honda is still lacking somewhat in 2020 he might choose to move. Ferrari or Merc? I have no clue.

He said he wants to be with RBR but he also said he wants a car to fight for the title. Their weakness is qualifying. So Mercedes is very tempting for him. RBR definitely needs a top driver in their team. So they would like to keep hold of Max or get Vettel back.

Obviously RBR. He will fight for the title there. He would not be able to fight for the title at Ferrari unless they manage to turn that car around. Don't let the last two Ferrari tracks play with your mind. Mercedes does not want warring champions (i.e., Rosberg or Jenson) and unless another team steps up (which is possible), he will be best off at RBR. They have proven again and again that they are highly motivated and brilliantly staffed. They will come good and he'll want to be there for it.

I had hopes for Renault. I could have seen him joining his old teammate if they'd come good. But it is looking unlikely. I would image that Dan would move instead, so I have ruled them out of the contest - at least for now.

Bold prediction: Haas

Red Bull. Newey has pretty good form with big regulation changes. Had the Renault been more powerful, Red Bull would have been challenging Mercs every year they have won. Honda performance is getting better and I reckon by 2021 will be competitive.