Outside line: If I were Ford this is how I'd maximise Verstappen

He’s only 28, yet continues to get better. Verstappen can take a non-winning car and win races with it. He can beat drivers in better machinery. Most telling of all, he annihilated most of his teammates. Yuki Tsunoda the latest casualty in a long line of them.

There’s no question Verstappen is the driver to have if you want to turn a team into a F1 world-championship-winning force. Ferrari would love to have him. Mercedes seek his services. Aston Martin wants him. Red Bull will fight to keep him.

With Ford entering Formula 1 in 2026, the American giant with one of the greatest racing pedigrees in motorsport now has Verstappen in its corner. If I were Ford, I’d recognise we've just landed one of the greatest promotional opportunities in motorsport.

Verstappen has driven Formula 1 cars powered by Ferrari, Renault and Honda. But he is known as a Red Bull driver. Energy drinks manufacturer. He has no alliance with a major auto manufacturer like most of his rivals do. Thus, not like Charles Leclerc, a Ferrari man through and through. Lewis Hamilton, a Mercedes man moving to Ferrari.

Max is not 'tainted' in that manner. As a Red Bull driver since his teens, he is not associated, in any way, with a car brand or manufacturer. A nice clean slate for Ford spin doctors to work from.

Worth noting, Stewart Racing, which became Ford-owned Jaguar in 2000, but in 2004, they sold the programme to Red Bull. And the rest, as they say, is history. They have come full circle.

Despite the Jaguar failure in the top flight, stats show Ford was once a powerhouse of Formula 1, keeping the sport alive through tough times with its legendary Cosworth engine. The legendary V8 that powered drivers to 176 Grand Prix victories and 23 F1 world titles. Now they’re back, and you’ve got to believe they mean business.

Formula 1’s profile in the United States is exploding, and it will get even bigger with Ford and Cadillac joining the grid in 2026.

Cadillac, despite a strong WEC Hypercar campaign, is essentially starting its Formula 1 programme from scratch as a Ferrari customer. Ford, meanwhile, is coming in as a heavyweight partner to Red Bull, with real input expected in the new power unit programme.

In time, I can even imagine Ford taking over the whole operation, leaving Red Bull to focus on what it does best: marketing. That’s down the road, but for now, Ford inherits the greatest driver on Earth at the peak of his powers.

At 27, Verstappen has the potential for another decade at the top if he follows the longevity of Fernando Alonso. And knowing Max, if he gets bored, he’ll go chasing other challenges - Le Mans, Nürburgring, Bathurst - whatever he fancies. And we know he fancies a lot when it comes to racing!

Ford is the perfect fit. Verstappen already has his own GT3 team and he enjoys strutting his stuff, as we saw at the Nürburgring earlier this year. Ford, with its own competitive GT3 car and global racing programme, has every reason to hand Max's team the keys.

If I were Ford, I’d say: “Max, you develop the GT3 car. Run a semi-works outfit out of Verstappen.com. Be our lead development driver. Make that car the standard-bearer for all.”

GT3 box ticked. Now what about Hypercar? Ford’s returning to WEC and Le Mans in 2027. I’d tell Verstappen: “You lead this. You shape it. When you’re done with Formula 1, come win Le Mans with us. And if the F1 calendar allows in coming years, race for us at Le Mans. We’ll give you every toy, every car, every chance to race.”

In fact, I’d even launch a “Ford Max” line of sports cars, or GTs and the like. It's a marketing marriage made in heaven. It is also a marriage of pedigrees, and there’s no better way to prove it than by building an empire around the most extraordinary driver this generation has seen. Which Verstappen is.

If Ford builds the Formula 1 team, their programme and the motorsport image around Verstappen, they will hit the jackpot. The only question is whether the Red Bull Powertrains-built Ford power unit will match Mercedes, Ferrari, or Honda in 2026. If it’s off the pace, they’ll be in trouble. Max will leave.

However, for the sake of speculation, if the Red Bull Racing Ford RB22 is competitive, a winner and Verstappen sees real potential, this partnership could define the next era of Formula 1 and whatever motorsport discipline Max decides to tackle in the future.

If Ford fail to capitalise on this opportunity, which I highly doubt, they’ll have missed the biggest marketing and sporting opportunity of the modern age. Because wherever the Dutch ace goes, I am sure he will win and if he’s not doing it for Ford, he’ll be doing it against them. Best they can do is maximise Verstappen for Ford as long as they can. There will be no regrets.

Below is a video of Ford already using Verstappen in their promotional content: