Max Verstappen: Spa status check on the eve of the Belgian Grand Prix
Max Verstappen arrives at Spa on 2026-07-19 in an unfamiliar position: seventh in the Formula1.com live drivers’ standings with 76 points and no wins, while Red Bull sits fourth on 128 points and also has no wins. The next race is Round 10, the Belgian Grand Prix, at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, scheduled for 2026-07-19 at 13:00:00Z.
Verstappen is 103 points behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli, and the gap to the Mercedes-led title fight is already wide. The bigger issue now is that the numbers are being read alongside fresh uncertainty over his Red Bull future.
Max vs the title fight
| Driver | Points | Wins | Gap to Verstappen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andrea Kimi Antonelli | 179 | 5 | +103 |
| George Russell | 154 | — | +78 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 147 | — | +71 |
| Max Verstappen | 76 | 0 | 0 |
Source: Formula1.com live standings dated 2026-07-18 19:00 UTC.
Spa context
Spa is next up as Round 10, with the Belgian Grand Prix set for Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on 2026-07-19 at 13:00:00Z. That puts Verstappen back on a track where he needs points, not noise, as the championship picture keeps moving away from Red Bull.
Red Bull’s position
| Pos | Constructor | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercedes | 333 | 7 |
| 4 | Red Bull | 128 | 0 |
Mercedes leads the constructors’ championship by 205 points, which leaves Red Bull fourth and far off the pace at this stage of the season. That gap is the backdrop to everything around Verstappen heading into Spa.
Official results say something different
Formula1.com’s live standings dated 2026-07-18 19:00 UTC list Verstappen on 76 points with 0 wins. Formula 1’s official results snippets credit him with wins in Bahrain on 02 Mar for Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT in 57 laps with a time of 1:31:44.742, and in Saudi Arabia on 09 Mar in 50 laps with a time of 1:20:43.273.
Both records are being presented here because they conflict. The live table says Verstappen is winless; the official results snippets say he has two victories.
Mekies ties Verstappen’s future to the car
Laurent Mekies has made the performance message plain. He said: “Max has made clear to us that he wants to continue with the team. It's equally clear that he needs a fast car for him to be happy with the team.”
He also said: “I'm not asking Max every week if he's going to stay!” Mekies added that Red Bull was around “four or five tenths” away four races earlier, and that the team’s priority is to “close that gap continuously” and get into “striking range soon.”
That is the tension around Spa: Verstappen is still linked to Red Bull, but the car has to improve quickly if the team wants the conversation to stay about racing rather than his future.