Max Verstappen has openly admitted that the direction of his Formula 1 career is currently "up in the air."
With Red Bull's performance slipping, following internal issues, scandals, and the departure of significant team members, the three-time world champion has been linked with potential moves in 2026, possibly to Mercedes or Aston Martin.
During an interview with Mara Sangiorgio at the Singapore GP, the Sky Italia reporter asked Verstappen if his experience in 2024 feels "strange."
"It's a season that is testing us," the Dutchman responded.
"Obviously it started out pretty well, but I always prepare myself not to have massive expectations. I never thought it would be the same as last year, but I didn't know it would change quite so drastically."
"It's time to keep calm and work together with the team to do a better job."
When asked how Adrian Newey's departure has impacted Red Bull, Verstappen remained neutral in his response.
"People always talk about it," Verstappen said, "but I prefer to look to the future. You can try to think about what is different but it won't change the situation. Instead, we have to look forward and learn how to become better."
In Singapore, the 26-year-old confessed that he "certainly wouldn't bet on us winning here" on Sunday.
With these struggles continuing, questions have arisen over whether Verstappen could consider switching teams to Mercedes or even Aston Martin, especially if Newey were to invite him to move to the Silverstone-based team.
"People talk about these things a lot more than I do," Verstappen responded. "I'm very relaxed, I just think about driving and trying to understand my problems and improve. Then I go home and live my life."
"I'm quite relaxed about the future. For me it's very simple, I enjoy what I do and as long as I enjoy it I'll stay here and continue to drive in F1. If I want to go somewhere else, I'll go somewhere else. But at the moment it's not in my head."
However, it appears to be on the mind of his father Jos, who is rumoured to have shaken hands with Toto Wolff over a potential move to Mercedes in 2026.
Such a move would depend on the existence of the well-known 'exit clauses' in Verstappen's contract with Red Bull, which runs until 2028.
"Maybe yes, maybe no," Verstappen smiled when asked if the clauses exist. "As I said, I'm not thinking about this at the moment, because there are so many things I want to try to understand and do better this year, not in the years to come."
Verstappen admitted that rival teams could offer him lucrative deals to get him back into a winning car. "Everyone in the paddock wants to win, so you can very easily switch from one side to another over the years."
"But I don't want my career to be like that. I don't want to be part of four or five teams. I want to build a long and stable and nice relationship with everyone in the team and feel at home. Changing teams too often is not nice for me."
"It's also something I don't want to do at this stage of my career," Verstappen added. "My next step, if there is one, will be my last step. But the next step could also be renewing with this team. Everything is up in the air at the moment."
