12/07/2025 18:10
Three-time Le Mans winner Allan McNish believes it is "quite clear"
the F1 drivers' title will not be won by Max Verstappen, with
rumours intensifying linking him to a Red Bull exit. The four-time
world champion finds himself 69 points adrift of championship
leader Oscar Piastri with 12 rounds remaining, resulting in most
ruling the Dutchman out. It is expected to be an all-McLaren duel
for the title between Piastri and Lando Norris, who are split by
just eight points. For Verstappen, the major question going into
the second half of the season is whether it will mark his final
races for Red Bull. He has been linked to a shock move to
Mercedes, whilst nobody within Red Bull or Verstappen's camp has
ruled out the possibility. In McNish's view, Verstappen is seeing
what options are available, with any team able to afford his
services to be interested. "From a Max point of view, clearly Red
Bull would like to keep hold of him," McNish said on an upcoming
special episode of the RacingNews365 podcast. "I don't know the
contract. "I don't know what clauses he has. But clearly he's
looking for opportunities around as well. At the moment, it's [Red
Bull] not functioning in the way that he's had in the past to win
another world championship. "This year it's quite clear which
direction that's going as long as they don't do anything stupid,
which I would be surprised if they did. "But from Max's point of
view, someone of his performance and capability and roundedness and
ability to deliver in pretty much every situation. I don't think
there's many teams on the grid that wouldn't listen to him if he
was interested." F1 media 'pushing and shoving' Speculation has
increased over his future in recent weeks, with Verstappen having
become frustrated with the volume of the questions surrounding
where he will be next season. McNish believes the story has been
pushed by the media, with the photos of the 27-year-old's
pre-British Grand Prix media roundtable having gone viral due to
the staggering attendance. "Right now, I also think there's a
little bit of pushing and shoving going on in the media," added
McNish. "People walking into motorhomes and things like that maybe
just to focus the minds at different points. "Whether, he moves or
not it's going to be his decision at the end of the day, whether
contractually he can or not, at different points." The special
podcast episode featuring Allan McNish will go live on Monday 14th
July across all platforms.
