Helmut Marko admits the “danger” is there that Max Verstappen could leave Red Bull, and expects he will “consider” that without a winning car.
Verstappen rose to F1 World Championship prominence in 2021 and from there embarked on an extended period of dominance, strolling to the F1 2022 and 2023 crowns with Red Bull as team and driver mastered the new ground effect era. However, those dominant days have come to an end.
Red Bull sense ‘danger’ of Max Verstappen exit
Verstappen has now gone winless in his last eight grands prix with McLaren having emerged as a powerful threat. The Woking squad has usurped Red Bull at the top of the F1 2024 Constructors’ Championship standings, establishing a 41-point lead, while Lando Norris has reduced Verstappen’s Drivers’ Championship lead to 52 points.
Verstappen’s Red Bull contract runs until the end of 2028, but that has not stopped speculation swirling regarding his future with the team, both Mercedes and Aston Martin frequently cropping up as potential suitors down the line, while Verstappen has once more hinted at an early F1 exit amid his swearing penalty row with the FIA.
And Red Bull senior advisor Marko did not deny that mechanisms exist for Verstappen to get out of his contract, an option Marko expects him to consider unless Red Bull put him back in a race-winning position.
Norris delivered his most dominant F1 performance yet last time out at the Singapore Grand Prix, banishing his start demons from pole and never looking back to win by 21 seconds over Verstappen.
“The danger is there,” said Marko on a potential Verstappen Red Bull exit when speaking with RTL/ntv and Sport.de.
“Max is not the type to beat [Michael] Schumacher’s or [Lewis] Hamilton’s records. When he’s in the car, he wants to win. But the environment has to be right. If the whole thing no longer suits him, you can expect him to say from one day to the next: That’s it!
“Most top drivers have exit clauses that are performance-related. Max has one too. This means that if we can’t provide him with a car in which he can drive at the front, that is certainly something he will consider.”
Learn more about three-time World Champion Max Verstappen
Red Bull has received a potential boost though when it comes to their hopes of keeping Verstappen, as if he wished to exit and continue in F1 at a rival team, it would appear that the door at Mercedes has now been closed.
Team boss Toto Wolff was vocal about wanting to lure Verstappen to Mercedes, but with teenage sensation Kimi Antonelli promoted to partner George Russell from F1 2025, Wolff is ready to move on from Verstappen.
“We’re sitting back,” he told dashracegear.com.pk
“I think I’ve expressed it before, and we have a similar view also from Max’s side: you’ve got to put faith in your drivers or in your team. You need to give it the maximum support you can to make it a success. And only if things go really wrong, you will consider other opportunities.
“For me, it’s like flirting outside whilst you’re making your relationship work. It doesn’t work, I’m not flirting outside.
“Only if I want to have a change, or consider a change, I would seek a conversation. And it is the same on his side. We’re pretty aligned in our values on that I think.”
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