The contract battle for Max Verstappen has exploded with reports suggesting the Red Bull champion is “close” to agreeing a bombshell deal with Mercedes
Verstappen is contracted to Red Bull through 2028 on a five-year deal worth a reported A$420m, but the team’s slide out of title contention in 2025 has given rise to the stunning scenario of the Dutchman quitting prematurely.
Sky Italy reported on Thursday (AEST) that “concrete negotiations” between Verstappen and Mercedes had suddenly progressed to a point where they were “close” to agreeing a deal, though the Silver Arrows board was yet to make a decision, and the story has not been confirmed by either party.
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Earlier, rumours of an exit had already become far more than just that in Austria, where Mercedes boss Toto Wolff confirmed talks with Verstappen were talking place, while the driver did little to quash the speculation himself.
Furthermore, Mercedes driver George Russell revealed that talks over his own new deal were being delayed due to the team’s wandering eye.
Wolff added to the pressure cooker situation by revealing that a Mercedes decision is expected around the mid-summer break in just three races’ time.
Speaking of the tight deadline, Wolff said: “I don’t want to be sadistic in letting a driver wait or not taking any decisions when it should be taken.
“I feel we are in a good space. There are lots of discussions around.
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“I’ve been open with it, transparent. And at a certain stage, in the next couple of months, until the summer break, everything is going to be done.”
The mid-summer break deadline is telling for another reason: It also serves as a deadline relating to a reported exit clause in Verstappen’s contract.
The rumoured performance-based clause allegedly gives the Dutchman an out from Milton Keynes should he not be inside the top three in the drivers’ championship by the main break.
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As things stand he’s third, but just nine points ahead of Russell and, most notably, with Red Bull on the slide.
Verstappen has stood on the podium just once in the past four races, in which he’s claimed 31 points. Russell has clinched 47 points in the past three.
As such, the potential for Verstappen to find a passage out of his Red Bull has seemingly become a distinct possibility, forcing Red Bull to publicly respond.
Red Bull’s driver supremo and Verstappen mentor, Helmut Marko, did his best to play down his star pupil leaving the team, though he did not deny the presence of exit clauses.
He claimed he couldn’t remember the exact details around the clauses “off the top” of his head but insisted there “is currently no reason to worry about any sort of exit.”
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“I assume people will use a race like this to stir things up,” Marko said after Verstappen’s DNF in Austria.
“But again, Verstappen has a contract through 2028.
“Like all top drivers, there are performance-based exit clauses – but as things currently stand, there is absolutely no reason that this contract won’t be fulfilled.”
F1 expert Martin Brundle said that despite Marko’s attitude, it appeared that Red Bull had been left scrambling over the threat of a Verstappen exit.
“Contracts are lodged independently, but deals can be done. You can’t force a driver to stay,” Brundle said.
“You’d go through an awful lot of trouble to stop Verstappen leaving and to make him happy again.
“So yeah, we’ve got this really big bubbling point at the moment.”
Brundle, a close confidante of Russell, also suggested: “There’s no smoke without fire.”
He added Russell was “nervous and ringing around a little bit”.
“Something is up,” Brundle told Sky Sports F1.
Verstappen has been tight-lipped since the Austrian GP, but before the race, his comments did little to douse the flames of speculation he could join Mercedes.
“I don’t think we need to talk about that,” Verstappen said. “I don’t know, do you want me to repeat what I said last year?
“I don’t know. It’s the same answer. I don’t even remember what I said last year, really. But again, it’s not really on my mind. Just driving well, trying to push the performance. And then we focus on next year.”
— With AFP