Red Bull reveal inside joke over potential Max Verstappen F1 exit

Laurent Mekies is adamant that Max Verstappen will not be leaving Red Bull, even revealing that there is now an inside joke on the subject due to how constantly it is being raised.

Verstappen's future has been in the spotlight since pre-season testing in Bahrain in February, following his criticism of this year's cars, now powered by a 50-50 split between combustion and electrical energy.

The speculation has been fuelled by the four-time F1 champion himself, who has conceded to considering what steps to take next, due to the fact that he has not enjoyed racing this season, given the level of battery management required.

During the recent gap between the Miami Grand Prix at the start of the month and this weekend's race in Canada, it was rumoured that Red Bull was eyeing up McLaren's Oscar Piastri as a replacement should Verstappen decide to leave.

Addressing the issue, speaking to the media, including RacingNews365, at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Mekies said: "We have a very, very strong driver line-up, and the driver choice is not a question that we are asking ourselves right now.

"We have Max. Nobody needs to present Max. He's helping us through a fairly complicated start to the season, and Isack [Hadjar] is doing a very, very good job.

"He has been dealing extremely well with a complicated car in the first three races, being very close to Max. He had a bit more of a difficult weekend in Miami, but as far as we are concerned, we are super happy with the two guys behind the wheel."

Earlier this month, it was confirmed that Verstappen's long-time race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, would be leaving Red Bull and joining McLaren as its chief racing officer no later than 2028.

As to whether he was concerned that Verstappen would follow Lambiase to the Woking-based team, Mekies revealed: "No, I'm not concerned with Max following GP there.

"We always have this joke. We are not going to ask Max every week if he's going to stay.

"Max is telling us he's happy at Red Bull. He is involved in every strategic decision we are making, he is at the heart of the project, he is pushing with us, and we both want the same thing, [which is] getting back to a more competitive package, and he's central to that."