ONE SHOCKING REASON RED BULL MIGHT LOSE MAX VERSTAPPEN BEFORE THE 2027 SEASON
Will Max Verstappen join Mercedes? Steiner breaks down why Jos Verstappen and Raymond Vermeulen have secured Max's F1 future.
Ex-Haas boss Guenther Steiner isn’t worried about Max Verstappen making the same career mistakes that have followed Fernando Alonso around Formula 1.
Sure, Verstappen lost the World Championship to Lando Norris in 2025, but look at how he finished the season—more wins than anyone else. That says a lot. He’s still the guy everyone measures themselves against. Drivers, team bosses, you name it—they all call him the best on the grid.
Now, things do look a bit uncertain for Verstappen with Red Bull building its own engine under the new rules. People keep linking him to Mercedes, and honestly, the German team seems to have an edge with their power unit. Still, Steiner says Verstappen’s got the right people around him to make sure he lands in a top car again by 2027—if not sooner.
“I think Max will be in the right car, so he’ll keep winning,” Steiner said on the Red Flags podcast. “He’s smart, and so is everyone around him. His contract’s open enough that whoever’s got the fastest car will want him, and they’ll figure it out.”
Alonso’s story is different. He’s still chasing that third Drivers’ title, but bad career moves have left him stuck on 32 wins since 2013. Steiner doesn’t see Verstappen falling into the same trap. Apparently, Verstappen’s Red Bull contract has escape clauses, so he won’t get stuck if things go south.
“He can make it happen himself with the contract he’s got, and I think he’s already planned for that,” Steiner said.
“He won’t do what Alonso did. Fernando always seemed to pick the wrong car. He’s a huge talent, but he never put himself in the right place.”
Steiner credits Verstappen’s dad, Jos, and his manager, Raymond Vermeulen, for keeping his career on track.
“Between Jos and Raymond, they’ll make sure Max ends up in the right car. So there’s nothing to worry about. Max will have the best, or at least the second-best, car,” Steiner finished.
DEFENDING THE CROWN: MCLAREN ENTERS 2026 AS REIGNING CHAMPIONS WITH A TARGET ON THEIR BACK
McLaren is ready: Discover how Andrea Stella is preparing Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to defend their F1 titles in the MCL40.
McLaren boss Andrea Stella says the team is all-in on making sure both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have everything they need to get the most out of the MCL40.
They're heading into the new season as defending champs in both F1 titles, thanks to Norris finally grabbing his first drivers’ championship. That puts a big target on McLaren’s back.
Even with all that, the team hasn’t been bragging about being top dog during pre-season. Still, Stella feels good about what they’ve seen in testing.
He points out, “We’re encouraged by how reliable the MCL40 is and how much we’ve learned every time we put it on track.”
He adds, “We checked off our testing goals, nailed down the car’s main functions, and proved its reliability. We got in plenty of long runs and worked through setups, aero tweaks, and tyre data, all the way to squeezing the most from the power unit.”
“Day by day, we’ve managed to squeeze out more performance, which is great to see. Now we know exactly what this car can do as we head into this new era of Formula 1.”
The cars handle a lot differently this year, mostly because of big changes to the power units.
As the team figures out how to get every last bit out of the engine, Stella says they’ll keep fine-tuning everything to give Lando and Oscar access to every ounce of pace.
He admits, “The new rules make the driver’s job tougher than ever, and we’re focused on giving Lando and Oscar what they need to get the most out of the car.”
“They’ll have more to juggle with managing the power unit, but we’re working closely with HPP to build better tools and a deeper understanding of engine control and performance. HPP’s done a solid job so far, and we’ll keep pushing together.”
LANDO NORRIS SINGLE: F1 CHAMPION CONFIRMS SPLIT FROM MAGUI CORCEIRO IN LEAKED VIDEO
F1 heartbreak: Analyse Lando Norris's split from Magui Corceiro, the "single man" leak, and their on-off relationship history.
Looks like Formula One world champion Lando Norris and his supermodel girlfriend, Magui Corceiro, have split up. The two started dating in 2023 and had a pretty on-and-off thing. She was right there with him when he won the title in Abu Dhabi – definitely an emotional night for both of them.
But now, it seems like it’s over. According to the Sun, a TikTok video caught Norris telling Carlos Sainz Jr that he’s “a single man". The audio’s not great, but you can hear Sainz asking if he and Magui are okay, and Lando just says, “No,” then adds that he’s single. This happened during pre-season testing in Bahrain while the drivers were getting their photos taken.
Magui, who’s also an actress from Portugal, used to date footballer Joao Felix before Lando. She and Norris broke up in 2024 and got back together, but it looks like they’ve called it quits again. People close to them say there’ve been signs for a while; things changed after Lando’s big championship win. The most obvious clue? Magui wasn’t at Lando’s big thank-you party in Bahrain, even though everyone else was there. Naturally, that got people talking.
Back in December, Magui broke down in tears after Norris won the world championship. She gave an interview to TV Guia, saying how happy they both were and how, in that moment, she forgot about the cameras. It all seemed pretty solid then.
Magui’s got a huge social following – around 800,000 fans on TikTok – and she’s done everything from acting in Portuguese dramas to modelling for brands like Intimissimi and Alo Yoga. She was even on Portugal’s Dancing with the Stars in 2020 and co-founded the eco swimwear brand Missus. She’s graced Vogue Portugal, too.
Norris himself talked about Magui in Vogue, saying they met a few years ago but only got together more recently. He called her “down to earth” and said he can just be himself around her. Apparently, he kept trying to get her into golf, but she hated it.
Neither of them has officially announced the breakup, but at this point, it looks like they’ve gone their separate ways.