Ex-F1 driver Karun Chandhok has tipped 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Max Verstappen to take a year off in 2026 to allow him to assess which team is the best bet in the sport’s new🅺 era.

F1 will introduc🥂e entirely new technical regulations for 2026, centred around the power unit.

Verstappen’s current team Red Bull will make their own p𒁏ower unit for the first time, wh👍ile the new rules have attracted Honda and Audi to the sport.

The Dutchman’s future has been a hot topic, particularly given the off-track dram✱a surrounding Red Bull.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Sky Sports F1 podcas♌t, Chandhok gave his view on what Verstappen might decide to d♉o.

“There’s some really unusual things happening. Then you’ve got ♈Sainz and Verstappen. We would never have thought of Verstappen leaving the team until all of the stuff unfolded around Red Bull in Bahrain. It is a really strange market, a difficult one to read.

“Increasingly I think Max wi🦂ll stay at Red Bull for 2025. I think he will take 2026 off and have a year out.♔ See what happens and then in 2027, he can go anywhere couldn’t he? He’s talked about his ambitions of doing le Mans and other forms. I think he will do something in 2026, have a year off, see who hits the ground running with the new regulations.

“Lewis would have done his two years at Ferrari, Max can go there in 2027, go to Mercedes in 2027, go back to  Re♌d Bull in 2027. I think that could happ♑en.”

Another driver’s future that is up in the air is 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Carlos Sainz.

Sainz has been li⛎nked with Red Bull, Mercedes and Audi in r🔯ecent months.

The Spaniard is keen on remai🥂ning at a top team, but neither Red Bull 😼or Mercedes have him as their number one option.

“His is a complicated one,” he said. “He wants a two-year deal at Mercedes. It seems like they’re offering a one-year deal with an option maybe for the second. If Verstappe♔n comes knocking then he’s out.

“That’s a risky m꧋ove because you’re basically going to a team where you’re effectively holding a seat for Verstappen or Antonelli. They’re having you as a stop-gap. In ‘25, based on current form, you think they’re not going to win the championship.

“Do you really go there? The Audi project is fascinating. There’s a lot of money being puওmped into it, they’ve unlocked a whole lot of budget.”