{"id":28017,"date":"2025-04-17T16:53:09","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T16:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/28017\/"},"modified":"2025-04-17T16:53:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T16:53:09","slug":"shock-new-destination-for-max-verstappen-emerges-in-forgotten-option","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/28017\/","title":{"rendered":"Shock new destination for Max Verstappen emerges in ‘forgotten’ option"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Red Bull Racing in the throes of a distinct performance slump, all eyes have turned to Max Verstappen to see what the four-time World Champion potentially does next.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many pundits feel that a team swap is imminent, and Verstappen has already been linked to the likes of Aston Martin and Mercedes. But could Alpine be a choice?<\/p>\n

Is Alpine the forgotten choice for Max Verstappen?<\/p>\n

The Formula 1 rumour mill has been abuzz with questions about what\u2019s next for Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n

The Dutch driver was launched into the F1 world as a teenager thanks to his ties with Red Bull, but in 2025, the team looks to be a shadow of its former self. Verstappen\u2019s third place in the drivers\u2019 championship standings is a testament to his own skill in wrangling the notoriously difficult RB21, and Bahrain showed just how challenging this season could shape up to be.<\/p>\n

Would Verstappen consider a move to a new team? Many pundits have speculated that it could happen, and that there are a few teams he\u2019d be most likely to move to.<\/p>\n

At the top of the list are Aston Martin and Mercedes.<\/p>\n

At Aston, Verstappen would once again have the ability to work with designer Adrian Newey, and his long association with Honda while at Red Bull could come in handy as Aston takes on the role of Honda\u2019s works team in 2026.<\/p>\n

And while Mercedes seems committed to its current slate of drivers for the next few years, a driver like Verstappen would be worth bending over backwards for.<\/p>\n

More Formula 1 analysis:<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49\u00a0The truth behind Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull wings<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 Time waits for Carlos Sainz, so why is Lewis Hamilton declared finished?<\/a><\/p>\n

According to former Formula 1 driver turned pundit Ralf Schumacher, \u201cthere will be room for Verstappen everywhere.\u201d But while we\u2019ve all been focusing on the seemingly obvious choices, Schumacher posits that we\u2019re all missing the elephant in the room: Alpine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team that we keep forgetting, but that certainly plays a role in the whole thing\u2026 Alpine!\u201d Schumacher stated recently on\u00a0Backstage Boxengasse, a German motorsport podcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlavio Briatore has purchased Mercedes engines for his team next year and in the meantime, look at Pierre Gasly last weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

He does have a point. While Alpine kicked off 2024 at the bottom of the charts, the French operation has continued to find speed. Schumacher specifically pointed to Gasly\u2019s seventh-place finish in Bahrain as an example, but that performance uptick was clear in the team\u2019s double podium at the rain-soaked Brazilian Grand Prix in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe car can\u2019t be that bad,\u201d Schumacher said of Alpine\u2019s current challenger, the A525.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdd to that an extra 30 horsepower from the Mercedes engine\u2026 I don\u2019t want to leave that team out of consideration either.\u201d<\/p>\n

If would perhaps be a stretch, but Flavio Briatore is known for his ability to negotiate even the most unthinkable deals. Max Verstappen would certainly offer something fascinating to Alpine \u2014 but whether or not it becomes a reality remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

Read next:\u00a0How McLaren\u2019s blame game could distract from true championship potential<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With Red Bull Racing in the throes of a distinct performance slump, all eyes have turned to Max…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[4289,4199,707,4200,225,1073,12,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-28017","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-alpine","9":"tag-f1","10":"tag-formula-1","11":"tag-formula1","12":"tag-home-page","13":"tag-max-verstappen","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114354350098171609","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}