Honda has sought to quell rumours that Max Verstappen might jump ship to Aston Martin in Formula 1.
During the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, Verstappen's frustration with Red Bull's performance boiled over, and his manager, Raymond Vermeulen, was spotted in a heated discussion with Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko. "I believe Red Bull has a big problem if Max leaves," ex-F1 driver Felipe Massa told Viaplay.
"If he was driving for McLaren, the team would possibly win all the races in the championship."
McLaren, however, remains committed to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Verstappen's name has surfaced in connection with Mercedes and Aston Martin, particularly if he can activate a performance-based exit clause.
With Mercedes leaning towards extending George Russell's contract for 2026, however, Dutch journalist Erik van Haren noted: "Aston Martin is mentioned a lot now."
The speculation ties partly to Adrian Newey's recent move to Aston Martin and comments from Honda's F1 chief, Koji Watanabe, who post-Suzuka expressed a desire to keep Verstappen Honda-powered beyond 2025.
Clarifying to as-web.jp, Watanabe said: "I was asked 'Do you want to supply power units to Max?' So I just answered. Do you expect me to say 'No, we don't want to supply them?' I saw an article online that said Honda has a say in deciding Aston Martin's drivers, but that's already a given—the same goes for Red Bull. I wish they'd stop making short-sighted articles like that."
