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WSL sees legendary players like Bright and Kerr move on, marking a new chapter.
Max Verstappen, currently seventh in the standings, may leave Red Bull before 2028 due to a contract clause. His poor performance has intensified rumors of a potential swap with Oscar Piastri.
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Four world championships and a contract through 2028, and Max Verstappen is currently sitting seventh in the standings with 26 points.
Without a podium to his name in 2026, he trails championship leaders Kimi Antonelli and George Russell by 54 points. The RB22 has been that bad.
Buried in that Red Bull contract is a clause understood to allow Verstappen to walk before 2028 if he isnāt inside the top two of the championship by the summer break.
Given where he sits right now, that exit door is very much ajar ā and the paddock has noticed.
Veteran journalist Joe Saward has gone on record in his newsletter claiming that Verstappen and McLaren have already begun talks about a potential move.
Thatās a significant step beyond the usual vague āmonitoring the situationā language that circulates in the paddock.
Verstappen is reportedly the highest-paid driver on the grid at around $70 million per year, which gives you a sense of the scale of the conversation McLaren CEO Zak Brown would need to be having. For his part, Brown has been careful in public.
He told Sky Sports F1 he ācouldnāt be happierā with his current driver lineup and had āzero intention in changing.ā
He did leave one window open, though: āif a gap opened up, thatās a different conversation.ā
The driver who would make way in that scenario is Oscar Piastri ā and the story gets more complicated from here.
Per , Red Bull has identified Piastri as its preferred replacement for Verstappen.
Verstappen's contract includes a clause that permits him to exit before 2028 if he is not in the top two of the championship by the summer break.
Max Verstappen currently has 26 points and is sitting seventh in the standings.
Verstappen is trailing championship leaders Kimi Antonelli and George Russell by 54 points.
The performance of the RB22 car has been significantly underwhelming, contributing to Verstappen's lack of podium finishes.

WSL sees legendary players like Bright and Kerr move on, marking a new chapter.
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Piastriās manager Mark Webber, himself a former Red Bull driver, is believed to be assessing different options for his clientās future, which makes the outline of a potential swap feel less like speculation and more like active positioning.
Red Bull has seen a string of significant personnel depart in a short span, including Christian Horner, Helmut Marko, sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, chief designer Craig Skinner, and now Verstappenās longtime race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, who is headed to McLaren in 2028.
That is a lot of institutional knowledge walking out the door at once.
Under team principal Laurent Mekies, Red Bull appears more open to targeting proven external talent than Helmut Markoās academy-first philosophy ever allowed.
Isack Hadjar is viewed internally as a long-term investment, not someone ready to anchor the team right now.
Piastri, who finished third in last yearās championship behind Lando Norris and Verstappen, fits the profile of someone who could step in and compete immediately.
Whether any of this materializes depends almost entirely on how Red Bullās car develops over the next few months.
If Verstappen finds himself back at the front with Red Bull, his preference will almost certainly be to stay.
Heās a racing driver, not a mercenary. The frustration is with the car and the regulations, not some deeper desire to wear a different color.
He has been vocal about the 2026 rules, calling them āanti-racing and Formula E on steroids.ā
A faster Red Bull fixes that. A move to McLaren doesnāt.
Still, the summer break performance clause is a countdown clock that neither party can ignore, and the fact that serious names are already being lined up on both sides of a potential swap tells you everything about how Red Bullās season is going.