Verstappen to see out Red Bull deal amid tension, speculation،
MELBOURNE, Australia — After weeks of speculation about Max Verstappen's future at Red Bull, the reigning champion said he intends to extend his contract until the end of 2028.
Tensions within the all-conquering Formula 1 team came to a head at the Saudi Grand Prix two weeks ago when the three-time champion hinted he might cut ties with Red Bull if his close ally Helmut Marko was ousted from his post in motorsport. advise.
However, arriving in Australia for the third round of the season this weekend, Verstappen insisted he has no plans to leave Red Bull before the end of his contract.
“That’s of course why I signed the deal in the first place,” he said. “And that's what I said before. I'm happy within the team and of course it's very important that we try to keep the key players in the team for longer, because it's good sure where the performances also lie. .
“At the end of the day, it's about performance. It's like if I'm not playing, I won't be sitting here, so I know how it works.
“But of course, with the deal in place, it's also my intention to be there until the end, because it would be a great story for me personally, to see it through to the end, because that means essentially that I was part of one family. and one team.”
The comments represent the latest episode in an ongoing saga at Red Bull that has overshadowed Verstappen's two victories at the start of the 2024 season.
Unrest within the team became public when news broke in February that Red Bull team principal Christian Horner had been accused of inappropriate behavior by a female colleague.
Following the completion of an independent investigation into the matter, the team's parent company, Red Bull GmbH, cleared Horner of any wrongdoing ahead of the first race in Bahrain.
A turbulent week followed in which Verstappen's father Jos asked Horner to leave the team and Marko's position also appeared under threat in the fallout from the investigation.
While Verstappen made his allegiance to his father and Marko clear during the second round of the season in Saudi Arabia, he said in Australia that he had no intention of getting involved in the apparent fight to be able to.
“For my part, I don’t want to get too involved in that kind of thing either,” he said. “At the end of the day, I'm the driver and I'm here to look at the performance side of things, that's what I'm hired to do.
“But from what I know, everything was handled the right way. I won't go into detail about that because I don't know any more, nor do I want to. know because it's not my business, my job or my task within the team.”
Verstappen was linked with a move to Mercedes following the Horner investigation, but in Australia he suggested that could only become a reality at the end of his current contract.
“I don't know. I don't know what will happen after 2028,” he said. “I don't know if I'm going to stay in F1, if I'm going to continue, maybe sign a new deal… I don't know yet.”
