Will Buxton responds warmly after fans say he teased Max Verstappen’s transfer
Will Buxton has finally cleared things up after fans thought he was hinting at big news about Max Verstappen leaving Red Bull.
With the 2026 Formula One summer break coming up, the rumor mill is going full throttle. More than half of the drivers’ contracts end this season, so lots of big names might switch teams soon.
One of the drivers already linked to a move is four-time champion Verstappen. He’s said to be thinking about his future at Red Bull—and in F1—since several teams are interested. At first, most people thought Mercedes would be his next stop if he left Red Bull after ten years. But lately, rumors suggest McLaren might actually be leading the chase.
Talks about Verstappen joining McLaren got louder this week, helped by a social media post from motorsports journalist Will Buxton hinting at a “big announcement” coming soon. He wrote on X, “Hearing a big announcement is on the way before the end of the day. If it is what I think it is, it’s absolutely massive.” Two years ago, he posted something very similar just before it was confirmed that Lewis Hamilton was leaving Mercedes for Ferrari, one of the biggest moves in recent F1 history.
Since reports said Verstappen’s Red Bull contract might soon let him leave, it made sense that fans thought Buxton’s post was about him.
But a few hours later, Buxton revealed his “big announcement” was actually about Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist joining McLaren’s Indycar team—not anything to do with F1.
Buxton said on the Up to Speed podcast that he had no idea there was Verstappen news brewing. “I heard there’s going to be a massive announcement, but I didn’t expect people to think it was about Max Verstappen,” he explained.
Watching all this, former British F1 driver David Coulthard slowly took off his glasses and gave Buxton a serious look. Buxton laughed and added, “The hope was to get attention for this big Indycar news.”
Even though Buxton’s announcement wasn’t linked to Verstappen or F1, the rumors that Verstappen could join McLaren next year are still strong. Reports say he’s close to finishing talks for a three-year deal starting in 2027, and the signing could happen very soon.
If Verstappen does join McLaren, many believe it will lead to a swap: current McLaren driver Oscar Piastri would move to the open Red Bull seat. Both Piastri and McLaren CEO Zak Brown have since downplayed the rumors, but it seems the speculation isn’t going anywhere just yet.