Verstappen swerves around future questions

Max Verstappen on Thursday swerved around questions on his future and declared he was taking things race by race with Red Bull as they work to develop their car.

Twelve months on from declaring he was staying with the team for 2026, the four-time world champion chose not to give any clear response about his plans.

"I feel good and from my side what I'm saying – that there's nothing to say – is because there's nothing going on," the Dutch driver said ahead of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.

"For me, I am just focused on trying to get the most from the car and that's already complicated enough to deal with.

"That's what I'm doing. This team is like a second family to me and of course I want to understand our car a bit better and get back to winning."

Verstappen, who is seventh in the drivers' standings, added that he felt they were on an "upward trend".

"We're still trying to understand the basics of the car. Some weekends, the performance has been a bit more straightforward. Sometimes we have a few issues. But it's an upward trend.

"If someone comes with an upgrade and it's two-tenths or three-tents, it looks a bit different and so we have to take it race by race really."

Verstappen has a performance clause in his contract which is believed to allow him to leave if he is not a title contender, but in this transitional new 'hybrid era' there are no clearly more attractive seats available for him to take next year.

Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren have all made clear they are happy with and retaining their drivers.

Verstappen has also said he might consider leaving F1 if he was not enjoying the racing experience anymore.