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The Red Bull-Christian Horner saga took a strange twist when Max Verstappen got involved. The Dutch driver has kept himself at a safe distance for the most part since the entire controversy became public.
He did, however, switch gears when it was discovered that Helmut Marko might be facing suspension from Red Bull. With the Austrian being one of his confidants, Max Verstappen jumped to his defense and more or less claimed that if Marko left the team, so would the Dutchman.
The race weekend in Jeddah ended with Christian Horner more or less calling out the bluff of Max Verstappen, as he said that he would not block anyone who did not want to be a part of the team.
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For a moment, let's assume that the friction at Red Bull does not get resolved and Max Verstappen decides to leave the team. Where does he go from here? Let's take a look.
Max Verstappen's possible destinations
#1 Mercedes
The prime position is going to be Mercedes, as Toto Wolff has been openly courting Max Verstappen and Helmut Marko to join the team. It makes logical sense as well, as there is a major hole left in the team when Lewis Hamilton departs in 2025.
For Max Verstappen, replacing Lewis Hamilton and trying to achieve success in a team where his arch-enemy failed is certainly an enticing option. At the same time, Mercedes is arguably the only team other than Red Bull that has shown the appetite and hunger to be a consistent frontrunner.
To add to this, falling out with Christian Horner and aligning with his biggest rival on the grid would be a slap in the face for the Red Bull team principal, hence a further incentive to do something like this.
#2 Aston Martin
If there is one team on the entire grid that has been proactively making moves to get to the front, then it is Lawrence Stroll-owned Aston Martin. Stroll was prompt in signing Sebastian Vettel for his team in 2021. He was prompt in bringing in Fernando Alonso as soon as the German retired.
Right now, Aston Martin is in a bit of a holding pattern. Fernando Alonso has not taken a call on whether he wants to continue racing or not. At the same time, if Max Verstappen is one name that opens up on the driver market, Stroll is going to do everything to get him into the team.
To add to this, Milton Keynes and Silverstone are not that far away from each other and you could see quite a few key personnel moving from one team to the next. Aston Martin also means an opportunity for Verstappen to once again realign with Honda as the Japanese brand comes on board in 2026, and that's certainly a positive at this stage.
#3 Audi
This is a major wildcard but an option that would mirror what Michael Schumacher did in his career. The German was on top of the world with Benetton in 1995 and had won two world titles. It was at that time that Schumacher decided to move to Ferrari, a team that was, in essence, a rough diamond.
He took his gang of specialists, which included Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne, to Ferrari and after multiple years of effort, built a championship-winning juggernaut.
Max Verstappen is at the stage of his career where winning has almost become a formality. Although he has always said that going through the struggle of building a team is not what interests him, could doing something like that with Audi be an attractive option for him? It could be if he's looking to replicate what Michael Schumacher did in his career because that is something that still sets him apart from anyone else in F1 history.
