Max Verstappen 'makes decision on leaving Red Bull' as F1 future saga escalates

Max Verstappen is said to be committed to Red Bull, despite the fact he failed to finish on the podium for the third consecutive race on Sunday. The Dutchman finished the Belgian Grand Prix in fourth position, with Oscar Piastri clinching victory ahead of McLaren team-mate Lando Norris.

Red Bull have struggled on the track since the middle of last year following a series of F1 changes, with Verstappen managing to hold on to win last year's Drivers' Championship title after building a comprehensive lead early on. But McLaren are way ahead of the Milton Keynes-based team this season, with Piastri and Norris often battling for race victories. Verstappen's future is far from certain and the four-time world champion has been strongly linked with a move to Mercedes. But he's reportedly staying where he is for now.

According to De Telegraaf, Verstappen is feeling good at Red Bull and is very pleased with the cooperation of new team principal Laurent Mekies.

The driver wants to look ahead, with his manager Raymond Vermeulen pointing towards his ongoing commitment to his current team.

And while Verstappen did have serious doubts about his future, he is set to drive for Red Bull next season.

Verstappen is said to have a performance clause in his contract that would allow him to leave Red Bull if he isn't positioned inside the top three by the time the summer break arrives.

But Verstappen, who won Saturday's Sprint race in Belgium, currently has a 28-point lead over fourth-place George Russell in the Drivers' Championship standings.

And with only one more race to go until the summer break, the star has already cemented a top three position ahead of the cut-off point.

The report does state, however, that Mercedes chief Toto Wolff is very interested in Verstappen's services and is convinced the driver will have to move on towards next year.

Verstappen had his focus firmly fixed on the racing action following the Belgian Grand Prix.

And reflecting on the whole weekend, he explained: "It's of course not where I want to be, but we are trying.

"Yesterday was a positive result for us, but it is not a realistic result, because we are way slower. But today, I tried.

"All in all, with the decision-making and the set up that we chose with the wing didn't help. But nevertheless, P3 was probably the maximum possible with the ideal scenario and, unfortunately, this didn't happen today."