Sebastian Vettel: “No reason” for Max Verstappen to leave Red Bull despite “unrest”

Four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel has warned Max Verstappen not to leave Red Bull despite the ongoing “unrest”.

Even though he’s contracted with Red Bull until the end of 2028, Verstappen’s F1 future is a hot topic.

The Dutchman has been linked with a move to Mercedes in recent weeks amid the ongoing Christian Horner saga - and the drama surrounding that.

Rumours about Verstappen leaving Red Bull were effectively started by his father, Jos Verstappen, who called for Horner to resign and was seen talking to Toto Wolff shortly after.

Vettel - who won all of his world titles with Red Bull - gave his opinion on Verstappen’s situation.

“There is of course a lot of unrest at the moment, but I think from a sporting perspective there is currently no reason for him to think about anything else,” Vettel said in an interview with sport.de.

Vettel retired at the end of 2022 following a lacklustre stint with Aston Martin.

The German shares a close friendship with fellow world champion - and former rival - Lewis Hamilton.

Like Hamilton will in 2025, Vettel famously left Red Bull for Ferrari in 2015, but was ultimately unsuccessful in winning a fifth championship.

Vettel conceded that Hamilton’s decision to leave Mercedes was a “very, very difficult decision” to make.

“Of course, like many others, I was surprised because of the connection he had with Mercedes over the years,” he added.

“I thought that somehow another report would come from ‘I don’t know where’, but then it was confirmed.

“I then wrote to him straight away and congratulated him.”