“I am ready”: Max Verstappen shows off new 2026 look, Laurent Mekies hails Red Bull star

Max Verstappen is ready to take on the 2026 Formula 1 season, and fans of the four-time world champion can hardly wait for the action to begin. The Red Bull star, who narrowly lost his bid for a fifth F1 World Championship to McLaren's Lando Norris by just two points, has unveiled his new look for the upcoming season, including his race suit and helmet. The Dutch driver shared his first post of the year to mark the start of the season, just days after Red Bull revealed its new glossy livery.

Red Bull star Max Verstappen back for 2026 season

Max Verstappen took to Instagram on Friday to share a series of photos from his Red Bull photoshoot. He captioned the post: “Back with 3. Scale model helmets available in my new shop at Verstappen.com.” The helmet features an enraged bull graphic on top along with Verstappen’s new racing number, “3.”

His girlfriend, Kelly Piquet, liked the post, which garnered more than 325,000 likes within five hours. Several fans expressed confidence that the 28-year-old could still claim his fifth championship title in 2026. One fan commented, “Chucky season 2 loading,” while another wrote, “That 1 is still visible in 3 because of the performance Max delivers.”

Verstappen also shared a striking promotional video on Instagram, captioned: “Same but different. I’m ready!” In the clip, he points to the number 3 on his helmet after relinquishing the iconic number 1 to reigning world champion Lando Norris.

Fans were quick to react. One wrote, “THE LION WAS BORN READY,” while another commented, “That ‘ready’ energy.” A third added, “Get ready for the hunt.” Many others said they “can’t wait” for the season to begin, while one post read, “When you see this helmet in the rearview mirror, pray.”

Laurent Mekies hails Max Verstappen as a motorsport icon

Last season, Max Verstappen was frequently linked with a potential departure from Red Bull amid concerns over the car’s performance. Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies was recently asked about those rumors, particularly in light of the challenges posed by the new regulations.

Mekies said, “One of the many incredible things about Max is that he’s not sitting outside the project, watching and judging what we do. He is part of the project. He takes risks with us, he understands the risks we take, as do Ford. He knows the scale of the challenge. He lives and breathes motorsport more than most of us. He is motorsport. Day and night, he’s thinking about racing. If it’s not Formula 1, it’s GT3. If it’s not GT3, it’s virtual racing, whatever comes next.”

Following the Barcelona test and two Bahrain test sessions, the 2026 Formula 1 season officially gets underway with the Australian Grand Prix on March 8.



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