The one person who has not told the world where Max Verstappen will race in 2027 is Max Verstappen. Everyone else has an opinion, and the opinions point in three directions.
Start with McLaren, the team the rumours keep circling. Mika Hakkinen, who won both his titles there, thinks that is the reason to leave it alone. Talking on the Up To Speed podcast with his old team-mate David Coulthard, the Finn framed it as a question of what McLaren would be trading away.
"It's not only Max out there, of course. There are many other drivers," Hakkinen said. "But what I have seen, how McLaren operates, they want to really look at the overall team package all the time. And because that's the only way to achieve success, [which] is to build incredible team spirit power inside."
His advice was blunt. "If you would ask me what I would do, I would like to minimise that risk. You know, if the team has two great drivers, why rock the boat?"
He offered himself and his host as the proof: "We were the longest team-mates, and that indicates that if there's a good harmony inside in a team, why to have somebody else?"
Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri hold 2027 contracts, so one of them would have to go.
Coulthard, still a Red Bull ambassador and a regular travelling companion of Verstappen's, doubts the question ever arrives. He was clear about the limits of what he knows.
"I don't ask, quite frankly, because in that context, it wouldn't be my business," he said. "My gut is that there's enough performance, and also he's been part of that journey right from the very beginning. So I don't think there is this sort of Lewis Hamilton shock leaving Mercedes, going to Ferrari, announcement coming from Max."
He expects a quiet fortnight, too: "I don't see any big news coming out of Red Bull or Max during the summer break."
Verstappen goes into that break sixth on 109 points, with second places in Austria and Hungary his best results and, according to widespread reports, an exit clause triggered by his position outside the top two.
Then there is Maranello. Charles Leclerc, speaking to Sky Italy, was asked whether he would want Verstappen alongside him and began by describing how far the two have come.
"Our relationship has matured over the years; I was convinced he was a bad person and he thought the same of me," Leclerc said.
The prospect does not trouble him. "He's an exceptional driver who's won four world championships, but fortunately I've had the opportunity to have some brilliant teammates: Hamilton, [Sebastian] Vettel, [Carlos] Sainz. So it wouldn't worry me if it were to happen one day. It would also be a great story because we started out together in 2010 and raced through all the karting categories together."
Verstappen has been asked about Ferrari often enough to have a settled answer, and it is not a sentimental one.
"I think Ferrari is a massive brand," he told Motorsport.com. "All the drivers, they see and they picture themselves there: 'I would like to drive for Ferrari.' But I think that's also where the mistake comes, just to drive for Ferrari. If I would ever want to go there, I don't go there just to drive for Ferrari, I go there because I see the opportunity to win."
"That's I think where you shouldn't let yourself get guided just because of the emotions and passion of a brand. You need to go there because you feel that is the right place to go."
Stefano Domenicali has confirmed he is talking to Verstappen directly, about both the driver's future and the rules that will shape it.
"We are discussing together his future, and the regulations for the future," Formula 1's president and CEO said. "Formula 1 is big enough for him to be part of us, but of course, he will decide the future the way he prefers to do, and the sport will look ahead."
On the broader question of whether Verstappen remains in the sport, Domenicali offered no qualification: "My opinion is that Max will stay with us. And I really hope so."
His Red Bull deal runs until the end of 2028.