“Absolutely no reason” Max Verstappen will leave Red Bull despite exit clauses

After crashing out of the Austrian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen trails Oscar Piastri by more than 60 points at the top of the F1 standings. Despite the lacklustre performance, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko says the team isn’t concerned that performance-related exit clauses could pave the way for an early departure for the Dutchman.

Verstappen’s retirement from the Austrian GP was the cherry on top of an awful cake for Red Bull at its home grand prix. The Dutchman was shunted out of the race by Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli at Turn 3 on lap one. Further back, Verstappen’s team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was stuck scrapping to finish off the bottom of the order against Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, but picked up a 10-second penalty that secured his last-place finish.

Verstappen clearly couldn’t bear to watch the performance unfold once he was out of the race, as he reportedly checked out and tuned in to the Spa 24 Hours to watch his Verstappen.com GT team pick up a class win.

The result in Austria ended Red Bull’s 77-race points-scoring streak in F1 and means it has now been five races since Verstappen’s last grand prix victory. As such, questions are swirling about what this dry spell could mean for Verstappen’s future at the squad.

The four-time F1 champ is contracted with the Milton Keynes-based team until the end of 2028, but it is believed that this deal has several exit clauses baked in that would allow Verstappen to walk away if he or the team isn’t performing as expected.

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With Verstappen now stuck in third in the standings and Red Bull adrift in fourth, the results could be seen as sub-par in Verstappen’s eyes. But team advisor Marko has stepped in to quell any concerns fans may have about the Dutchman’s future with the squad.

“I assume people will use a race like this to stir things up,” said Marko after the race in Spielberg.

“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.”

Marko admitted that he couldn’t recall the details of the exit clauses “off the top” of his head, but remained adamant that there “is currently no reason to worry about any sort of exit.”

While the team remains committed to Verstappen and his future at the squad, the four-time world champion hasn’t done much to counter claims of an impending departure.

When asked ahead of the race in Austria if he was “going to be driving for Red Bull Racing next year,” the Dutchman gave a curt reply that did little to confirm his stance.

“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.”

No wonder, then, that the rumours of a shock move to Mercedes or a switch to follow Adrian Newey to Aston Martin are getting harder to ignore.