Verstappen dubs Red Bull his 'second family' but plays coy on his future

[p]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.[/p][p][b]"I feel good and from my side what I'm saying – that there's nothing to say – is because there's nothing going on,"[/b] the Dutch driver said ahead of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.[/p][p][b]"For me, I am just focused on trying to get the most from the car and that's already complicated enough to deal with.[/b][/p][p][b]"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."[/b][/p][embed guid="2889ede3-01f8-419d-add5-22ae8e41e07b" url="https://x.com/redbullracing/status/2080337897551728950" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/verstappen-max/UV3mgeXB/"]Verstappen[/a], who is seventh in the drivers' standings, added that he felt they were on an "upward trend".[/p][p][b]"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.[/b][/p][p][b]"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."[/b][/p][p]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.[/p][p]Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren have all made clear they are happy with and retaining their drivers.[/p][p]Verstappen has also said he might consider leaving F1 if he was not enjoying the racing experience anymore.[/p]