Max Verstappen intends to spend the rest of his Formula 1 career at Red Bull, so long as it remains feasible.
The Dutchman of course debuted with the company’s sister team Toro Rosso in 2015 before being promoted alongside Daniel Ricciardo from the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.
And while there have been times when questions over Red Bull’s competitiveness have led to speculation over his future at the Milton Keynes-based squad, Verstappen now feels he has a home for life.
“That’s the plan,” he told Sky Italia when asked if he could stay at Red Bull until he retires.
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“I really enjoy being part of the team. Everyone in the team as well, you have a very good relationship with [everyone], we’re all very motivated and driven towards success and of course we want to win.
“I hope we can do this for a very long time.”
That being said, Verstappen didn’t rule out looking around in the future.
“It needs to make sense,” he said of any potential move, “but at the moment I’m not really looking for that.
“The focus is Formula 1. I’d like to of course to do endurance, but this is a side project, it’s not the main goal.
“And at the moment I’m very happy where I am, and that’s of course at Red Bull.”
Whenever Max has appeared slightly unsettled at Red Bull, the first team that always comes up as a possible option is Mercedes, who missed out on signing him to their junior program back in 2014.
And though the 23-year-old has a current contract until 2023, Ralf Schumacher believes the current world champions had planned to hire him as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement.
“For me, that means above all that Max has turned down Mercedes,” he told Sport Bild of the two-year deal Hamilton signed in Austria.
“I think there was hope at Mercedes that with Max in the cockpit they could completely realign themselves for the future. That has now died, and then Lewis was the only alternative in my opinion.”
Team boss Toto Wolff, however, denied there was any interest in signing the Red Bull man.
“I think that Verstappen and his entourage are very happy where they are,” he said.
“Red Bull is their team and is their home, and why not keep it like that? I think we have our plans with our drivers, and Ferrari has a great line-up, and Lando Norris at McLaren looks pretty settled, so I think the trajectory is set.
“We’re not looking for a driver.”
Instead, their hopes appear to lie in George Russell, who may or may not get his chance at Mercedes in 2022.