At the halfway stage of the 2025 Formula 1 season, Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen appear to be doing damage control to save their campaigns.

Max Verstappen has fallen 69 points behind drivers’ championship leader Oscar Piastri after the British Grand Prix.

He produced an incredible lap in qualifying to earn pole position, but Verstappen lamented his set-up choices with the weather far wetter than expected during the race.

He spun his Red Bull at the final safety car restart, meaning that a recovery drive to P5 was the best he could do.

McLaren have an advantage over Red Bull at virtually every track on the calendar, and at times, Ferrari and Mercedes can get the better of Christian Horner’s team, too.

What makes matters worse is Yuki Tsunoda continuing to struggle in the second Red Bull car, having failed to score a point since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Tsunoda became the first Red Bull driver to finish last in back-to-back races, and all of this creates more uncertainty around Verstappen’s Formula 1 future.

Photo by Andrea Diodato/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Red Bull left in a ‘no win’ situation in trying to keep Max Verstappen next season

Mercedes are seriously interested in signing Verstappen, with neither George Russell nor Andrea Kimi Antonelli signed up for next year.

Commentator and journalist Nelson Valkenburg was speaking to the Chequered Flag Podcast about the four-time world champion’s future.

He explained: “Listen, they’re in a tricky position, Red Bull’s in a tricky position. If he goes, the team implodes. If he stays and the car isn’t competitive, the team explodes with Verstappen.

“I think it’s almost a no-win scenario. Can they prove to him that the car will be competitive over a season? I don’t believe so.

“I don’t believe that he trusts the technical team at Red Bull, to that extent, I think he’s seen enough.

“On the other hand, can they dislodge themselves from a long-term contract? What I am sure about is that Verstappen and the team around him do not want lawsuits, do not want mess. They won together so much, they want this to be amicable if it happens.

“But there are a lot of boxes that need to be ticked so far. I just don’t think he trusts this team to come up with the winning solution over the long term.

“My gut feeling says yes [that Verstappen will leave], but it will not be easy.”

Max Verstappen predicted to take ‘big risk’ with his Formula 1 future by Guenther Steiner

Verstappen has been clever to keep his cards close to his chest when asked about his future this season.

Currently, Verstappen’s contract expires at the end of the 2028 season, but Red Bull know it’s not quite as straightforward as that.

There is currently a get-out clause in Verstappen’s agreement that could be activated as soon as this season’s summer break.

This would leave Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff with a monumental decision to make, and potentially having to part ways with one of his drivers whom he’s nurtured through their junior careers.

He would also need to convince Mercedes to pay whatever fee Red Bull have attracted to Verstappen’s contract.

There are still a lot of moving parts in the F1 driver market this year, even though so many drivers are technically under contract for 2026.

But if the noises from the Netherlands suggest that Verstappen could be on the move, then everything could be blown wide open in the second half of the season.