Max Verstappen: Red Bull driver says 'I'm taking my time' on F1 future decision ahead of Miami Grand Prix
Max Verstappen discussed the latest on his F1 future and whether the departure of his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase will impact his decision; watch F1's return at the Miami Grand Prix this weekend, with practice at 5pm and Sprint Qualifying at 9.30pm up first on Friday
Thursday 30 April 2026 23:05, UK
Max Verstappen says he is taking his time over deciding his future in Formula 1 after the Red Bull driver revealed he is considering quitting the sport.
Following the last race in Japan at the end of March, Verstappen suggested he was thinking about leaving F1 due to his dissatisfaction over the sport's new regulations amid a poor start for Red Bull to the 2026 season.
However, the Dutchman says there is "nothing new" to comment on as he was "busy with other things", including racing at the Nordschleife in Germany to prepare for a 24-hour race later in May.
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"I still have time and I'm taking my time," he said ahead of this weekend's Miami Grand Prix.
Asked by Sky Italy whether a surge in performance from Red Bull would impact his decision, Verstappen added: "We are a little bit further behind at the moment than what we had last year.
"The rest, I mean, also for myself, I don't know at the moment. What I said in Japan is still the same, but I also still have a lot of time.
"I just want to be here. The team has worked really hard to bring updates to the car, so we first have to wait and see what they will do, because I have no idea, of course, what other teams came with as well.
"I just hope that we can escape a little bit that midfield battle, and we can be actually a bit further up front."
Verstappen: Regulations changes are only a 'tickle'
Verstappen is ninth in the Drivers' Championship and failed to finish in the top five of the opening three races. However, he has suggested it is the regulations rather than Red Bull's performance that is his biggest frustration.
The FIA has tweaked F1's power-unit regulations for the remainder of the season to encourage more "flat-out driving", including changes to energy harvesting and deployment limits.
It should mean there is less superclipping - when a car slows down on the straight to recharge its battery - and less lifting and coasting, thus creating smaller closing speeds, with changes also made to the boost modes following Oliver Bearman's big crash in Japan when he had to take drastic action to avoid Franco Colapinto.
But, Verstappen believes the changes are only a "tickle" and is "not what we need to make it flat-out" racing.
"I just hope for next year we can make really big changes," he added.
"The positive thing about it is we had some nice meetings with Formula 1 and the FIA. That's probably like a starting point hopefully for the future.
"Even in a few years' time, when maybe I'm not here anymore, I really hope that for the future drivers as well, there's more input to come from the drivers to the organisers in general because I do think that most of the drivers here, we have a good understanding and a good feel of what is needed to make Formula 1 a good product, a fun product.
"I think that's already a huge step forward in terms of the communication. Of course with the changes that are made, I think it's more like a tickle because at the end of the day, F1 is a very complex and political sport. But I think everyone has tried their best to at least do something, but of course it won't change the world."
Verstappen: I will have to find very rare relationship with Lambiase again
During the five-week gap since the last race, Verstappen's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase surprisingly announced he will leave Red Bull and join McLaren by 2028.
Lambiase has been Verstappen's only permanent race engineer at Red Bull since their first race together in 2016 and the latter previously stated, after winning his maiden world title in 2021, he would no longer race in F1 if Lambiase was not his engineer.
However, he said on Thursday that Lambiase's move to McLaren has "nothing to do" with his own future.
"We have a very honest and open relationship, so that was all good. I wish him all the best and for me there was no hard feelings on that," added Verstappen.
"As a team of course we look to the future, we always want to innovate and improve and that's what we are doing right now."
Verstappen half-joked he would be "an idiot" to try and keep Lambiase after the offer the 45-year-old received from McLaren and will need to find a similar relationship with someone else to keep driving in F1.
He told Sky Sports F1: "The general understanding that we [me and Lambiase] have with each other, and the chemistry works really well. And that's very rare in racing. You don't see that often that a driver and engineer, they gel that well together.
"That's something that I'll have to try and find again. It's not that easy but sometimes, of course, that happens."
Sky Sports F1's Miami GP schedule
Friday May 1
2.35pm: F2 Practice
4.30pm: Miami GP Practice One (session starts at 5pm)*
7.25pm: F2 Qualifying
8.10pm: Team Bosses' Press Conference
8.40pm: Miami GP Sprint Qualifying (session starts at 9.30pm)
Saturday May 2
2.55pm: F2 Sprint
4pm: Miami GP Sprint build-up
5pm: MIAMI GP SPRINT
6.30pm: Ted's Sprint Notebook
8pm: Miami GP Qualifying build-up*
9pm: MIAMI GP QUALIFYING*
11pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook*
Sunday May 3
5.25pm: F2 Feature Race
7pm: Miami GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
9pm: THE MIAMI GRAND PRIX*
11pm: Miami GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
12am: Ted's Notebook*
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 is in Miami for a Sprint weekend as the 2026 season resumes, watch live on Sky Sports F1 with Sunday's Grand Prix at 9pm. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime
