Max Verstappen is staying in Formula One!

Big Formula One news alert: Max Verstappen has signed a contract extension that will keep him at Red Bull until the end of the 2030 season.

The news comes after rumours Verstappen’s people had held talks with McLaren over a potential switch for the 2027 season. It also follows Verstappen’s own threats to quit F1 entirely over the state of the current regulations. Back in February this year he described the new cars as “like Formula E on steroids” and “just not Formula 1”. Plus, he clearly enjoyed his first outing at the Nürburgring 24 Hours in a Mercedes-AMG GT3.

But ahead of his home race at Zandvoort this weekend, Max committed his future to Red Bull and described the team as “like a second family for me”.

“I am really pleased with the contract extension. We have the best people and I’m excited to keep working together with everyone to get back to the top again,” said the four-time world champion who won his first race with Red Bull back in 2016.

“This remains the ultimate goal that all of us have been working towards and will continue to pursue. I want to thank Red Bull, Laurent [Mekies] and everyone at Oracle Red Bull Racing for the trust they put in me.”

Despite Red Bull’s slight struggles so far this year, it seems that team principal Laurent Mekies – who took over when Christian Horner was sacked last year – was a fairly major reason for Max putting pen to paper on the new deal.

“Getting to work with Laurent now for over a year has also been great, I see a clear vision he has for the team. Everyone in Milton Keynes believes in what we are building and I am looking forward to the next chapter, fighting for more victories and competing for championships as we continue to shape the future of this team.”

Elsewhere in the F1 circus, Carlos Sainz has signed a new “multi-year contract” to keep him at Williams, and Yuki Tsunoda will be back on the grid for the final Dutch GP as Isack Hadjar suffered a wrist injury over the summer break. It’ll be Liam Lawson that steps up into the second Red Bull though, with Tsunoda covering the New Zealander at Racing Bulls.