we might see Max either switch teams or leave for his current racing love of Sports Cars.
My money is him fucking off to do something else. Based on pure observation, I think Max has a not-unjustified attitude problem towards F1 in general. He likes racing. That's all he likes. I would guess that he doesn't like the circus and fluff that F1 demands around the races, and he probably hates the commercialization and politics around F1 that enables that stuff. I don't think any other team would put up with his attitude and would want him to get in line and do all the shit that other teams do.
I can't imagine Toto trying to tell Max
he suddenly has to start appearing in commercials for Mercedes, and Max is totally cool with it.
I've said it before - Red Bull is the perfect team for him. It's the team whose branding is expressly "Go hard and give no fucks", while every other team is hell-bent on giving every fuck they're forced to. Which is fine, most of the guys seem fine with the price of admission.
The other factor in this is, I think Max changing teams isn't nearly enough "go hard" for him. He could race for another team, but he's Max Fucking Verstappen. He's not going to switch teams like he was just another one of the drivers on the grid. He wants everyone to know that he dominates racing, no matter the car. He might not have 7 WDCs, but who needs that if he can dominate another racing sport? He's not going to hang out and waste his prime years if he still has the capacity to dominate elsewhere.
Personally, I want that if for no other reason for the chaos Max leaving causes. Between Red Bull having to actually give a shit about rebuilding a team, to all of the blustering from everyone left playing the "now that Max isn't here, it's MY turn" game (Charles and George at least, but we could see low-key campaigns from McLaren).
