What will Verstappen do next as Red Bull aim to show they remain his best bet?

There is no doubt Max Verstappen was riled and fed up after he suffered a rear wing failure for the second race weekend in succession at the British Grand Prix.

The Red Bull has been the fourth-best car for much of the season - but Verstappen, as he so often does, had worked his magic to sit inside the podium places in third at Silverstone when, with four laps to go, a rear wing issue pitched him off track and into the gravel.

It came after he was in the fight for pole at the previous race in Austria when a rear wing issue sent him off at the high-speed Turn 9.

Why Verstappen’s future is being discussed

Alongside the pain he was enduring on-track, with Silverstone's DNF his third of the season as he extended his winless run to nine, there was chatter off it that Verstappen was weighing up his future.

The Dutchman has a contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028, but there are believed to be performance-related clauses in his deal that could, depending on circumstances, allow him to leave before the end of this season.

As previously reported, sources say his team spoke to McLaren about the potential of a move to the reigning world champions at some point in the future. It is believed they have also spoken to other teams to see what might be possible.

These chats are commonplace in Formula 1. Driver management and teams would not be doing their jobs if they didn't assess the driver market constantly so they are ready to move should they need to – whether that's imminently or in the months and years to come.

The question is: What does Verstappen want to do? The truth is that he's likely not entirely sure yet, otherwise he would have probably confirmed his plans – whether that's staying put, moving elsewhere or leaving the sport either temporarily or forever.

Ultimately, Verstappen wants to fight for race victories. He is driving at a high-level and wants to capitalise on that, because not only does he not know how long he'll be able to do that for, he also knows he doesn't want to stay in F1 as long as some others have stayed.

Right now, Red Bull are not delivering him machinery which gives him confidence to get the job done. The positives are that upgrades introduced in Miami and then Austria do seem to have cut the gap to the front.

But persistent balance problems and the rear wing issues, the latter of which Verstappen said are "becoming dangerous for myself", are hurting them.

Red Bull remain the natural fit

His preference would almost certainly be to stay at Red Bull. They are the ones who brought him into the sport. They are the ones with which he has won all his Grands Prix and all four of his world titles. He feels at home there – and the team love him. It feels like his team.

He has seen time and time again that Red Bull have been able to bounce back from difficult periods – but the nature of the two accidents he's had in successive weekends will make believing that in the heat of the moment tougher to take.

So it's no surprise he has tested the water elsewhere. The trouble is, McLaren have Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri under contract, Mercedes recently activated clauses that lock in George Russell alongside Kimi Antonelli next year, while Ferrari are set with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

They would have to break deals with drivers – which isn't common but definitely not unheard of – to get Verstappen in. Currently, it doesn't feel like another team is on the verge of doing that, even if someone as talented as Verstappen could be available.

Why staying put still looks likeliest

It's unlikely Verstappen would look outside that pool given it won't offer him race winning machinery, and so that points more to him staying put at Red Bull and working with the team – as he has done for more than a decade – to find a way back.

You only have to look at the last six months of last year to see that Red Bull are more than capable of getting on top of their problems, with Verstappen winning six of the last nine Grands Prix and almost snatching the title away from Norris.

Yes, it's true that none of their rivals were developing as hard as them, but Red Bull still had to deliver performance gains from the new bits they put on their car and make sure they were spending their money wisely.

Verstappen could also take a year out or he could retire altogether – but at this moment in the time, it feels like he's not done with the sport yet. It's now down to Red Bull to get on top of their rear wing issues, continue to refine their package and give the Dutchman a car with which to fight.

He will then do the rest, and that could well be enough to keep things as they are, for another season at least. For now though, the ball is in Verstappen's court – and he's not in a rush to decide, which gives Red Bull time to prove they are still the best place for him.