F1 fans say Verstappen unfollowed Red Bull Racing after Honda bombshell

Following the shock news that Honda is going to pull out of F1 after 2021, the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing team has been left without an engine supplier. While no official statement from Verstappen has surfaced, many fans are stating he has unfollowed his team on social media.

The news that the Honda F1 team is pulling out of the sport at the end of 2021 has shocked the entire Formula One community. Beyond the obvious ramifications for the drivers, this also leaves the Red Bull Racing team without an official engine partner, as theirs were sourced from Honda.

Red Bull Racing’s official statement following the announcement was “This decision does not affect Honda’s commitment to achieving our shared goals during the remainder of our partnership as we aim to build on our joint success until the end of 2021.”

Max Verstappen to move to Mercedes-AMG Petronas?

Despite the Red Bull Racing announcement being a voice of calm and reason, many fans seem to be suggesting that star driver Max Verstappen may be looking to distance himself from the team.

Delving into Verstappen’s social media profiles on Instagram and Twitter, it is clear to see that he no longer followed the official Aston Martin Red Bull Racing accounts on either platform.

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While we are unable to say for certain whether Max followed the accounts before the Honda announcement, this does seem like very strange behavior for Verstappen to display. Max does still display “F1 driver @redbullracing” in his Instagram bio, so he may not be looking to jump ship just yet.

Verstappen re-follows Red Bull Racing team

Interestingly, the speculation continues deeper than Max’s own behavior. Twitter user @FiftyBucksss also points out that Ola Källenius, head of Mercedes-Benz, has suddenly been followed by Max’s dad Jos.

This Mercedes rumor mill also seems to have piqued the interest of Verstappen and Mercedes F1 fans alike. Many fans are now calling for Verstappen to make the ‘jump’ from Red Bull Racing to the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team.

Interestingly enough, in the hour since the tweets began to surface, Max has suddenly re-followed the Red Bull Racing account.

Whether it was a knee-jerk reaction to the news or a technical error is unclear, but it will be interesting to see if Verstappen issues any sort of official statement in the coming days.