F1 News: Honda backs away from Verstappen-to-Aston rumors

(GMM) Honda has moved to play down bubbling speculation that Max Verstappen’s next move in Formula 1 could be to Aston Martin.

In Bahrain, the quadruple world champion’s patience with Red Bull appeared to fracture – and his manager Raymond Vermeulen was even seen in a testy exchange with Dr Helmut Marko.

Raymond Vermeulen, Manager of Max Verstappen and Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing talk in the Paddock during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit on March 13, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool //

“I believe Red Bull has a big problem if Max leaves,” former F1 driver Felipe Massa told Viaplay.

“If he was driving for McLaren, the team would possibly win all the races in the championship.”

McLaren, though, is clearly happy with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Verstappen, on the other hand, is linked with Mercedes and Aston Martin in the event he can trigger a performance-related exit clause.

Mercedes now seems likely to re-sign George Russell for 2026.

“Aston Martin is mentioned a lot now,” Dutch journalist Erik van Haren observes.

Part of the reason is that Adrian Newey is now working for Aston Martin – while another reason is recent comments made by Honda’s F1 boss Koji Watanabe.

After Suzuka, he made clear he wants Verstappen to remain Honda-powered after 2025.

“I was asked ‘Do you want to supply power units to Max?’,” Watanabe now explains to as-web.jp. “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.”

If 40-year-old Hamilton is indeed washed up