Before Christian Horner’s Red Bull exit, Max Verstappen’s future was one of the main talking points in the Formula 1 paddock.
Amid Red Bull’s early-season struggles, the performance clauses in the world champion’s contract came under scrutiny. Verstappen ultimately couldn’t activate them, since he was in the top three of the drivers’ championship at the beginning of the summer break.
The Dutchman made clear in Hungary that he would stay with Red Bull for 2026 regardless of those clauses. Those words ended all speculation, which had mainly focused on Mercedes. George Russell publicly mentioned talks between Toto Wolff and the Verstappen camp, with the Mercedes boss replying it was “completely normal” for any team principal to explore where the future of a four-time world champion lies.
But Mercedes wasn’t the only team linked to Verstappen – Aston Martin also received media attention. Reports about a ‘one-billion offer’ proved overly optimistic, but Fernando Alonso still called it “flattering” that Verstappen’s name was even associated with the Lawrence Stroll-owned outfit.
Team principal Andy Cowell shared that sentiment, as he told Autosport: “Ever since Lawrence bought the team, his words have been backed up with action.
“When you see the campus, when you see the investment he’s got inside the campus, when you see his approach on recruiting people like Adrian [Newey], he’s determined. At which point, the whole paddock can see that there’s a determination to go from a team that was about survival to a team that is here to win.”
Andy Cowell, Aston Martin Racing
Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images
Like Alonso, Cowell sees the Verstappen rumours as a sign of the long-term potential that people might associate with Aston Martin – with ‘managing technical partner’ Newey onboard and Honda as the upcoming engine provider.
“Max showing media interest – I don’t know what the right phrase is, but Max showing media interest is flattering,” Cowell added. “In his opinion, he can see that this is a team that’s determined and that is taking the right steps.”
Wolff famously said that every team principal in F1 would “do a handstand” to sign Verstappen, but Cowell laughed when asked about those remarks: “I’m not very good at handstands! Even in a swimming pool, I struggle.”
On a more serious note, he explained that Aston Martin’s main goal was to build a car so competitive that the team becomes a natural destination for all top drivers in F1.
“We are really fortunate that we’ve got Lance and Fernando, who’ve got great experience, carrying across through to at least the end of 2026. That means we’ve got drivers that we can just chat to openly about next year.
“When I chat to Adrian and when I chat to all the engineers, what we’re determined to do is to come up with a really fast race car. And then we want every single driver with a superlicence to want to drive our car.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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