You’ve got one more year to keep me in F1

Perception is all in Formula 1 and Max Verstappen has been very careful to distance himself from the political shenanigans which have threatened to tear the Red Bull enterprise apart over the past 18 months.

In public he has kept any criticism focused on the car itself: both the RB20 (post-Miami 2024) and RB21 have been lamentably inconsistent, and difficult to drive. The spinning in the background he has left to his father, Jos, and manager Raymond Vermeulen.

It is from these sources, generally via the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf – which is to ‘Team Max’ what Pravda is to the Russian Communist Party – that news has ‘leaked’ over Max’s ongoing dissatisfaction with the team, and the possibility of him triggering a performance clause in his contract to exit Red Bull as early as this past summer.

But let us not be in any doubt that Max, his father, and his manager are on the same page – and that the sentiments promulgated in De Telegraaf come from the horse’s mouth, as it were.

The interview with Vermeulen this weekend amounts to an official explanation of why Max has chosen to remain with Red Bull – for now – and a jerking of the leash.

In 2022 Verstappen signed a long-term contract with Red Bull which keeps him at the team until the end of 2028. But all contracts have exit clauses on both sides, and it is widely believed that this year’s threshold was Max being no lower than third in the drivers’ championship by mid-season.

It’s also understood that the performance clauses become more demanding of Red Bull from next year onwards – this was one of the concessions the team had to make to get such a long-term deal over the line.

Obviously when the contract was signed, Red Bull had the most competitive car on the grid. It would have been difficult to envision the bizarre soap opera of the last 18 months: a competitive slide, problematic cars with seesaw performance from week to week, all against a background of petty and self-destructive infighting at senior management level.

So the gist of the interview, cloaked in diplomatic language, is a stark message to Red Bull about who is wearing the trousers.

“It would be a fantastic story if he [Verstappen] were to drive his entire Formula 1 career for Red Bull,” Vermeulen said. “But that will only happen if he has the equipment to be able to win.”

This is very much in tune with the mood music coming out of ‘Team Max’ for the past 18 months. But Vermeulen went beyond that, explaining the reasoning for staying at Red Bull for now (glossing over the fact that Verstappen couldn’t trigger his performance clause anyway), and establishing a timeline for what the team needs to do to keep him.

Beyond that, he was clear that Max intends to carry on – and indeed ramp up – his extracurricular activities such as GT racing. This has been a contentious subject even for Verstappen ally Helmut Marko, who clearly wishes Max would just concentrate on F1.

Verstappen in the #980 Lionspeed GP, Porsche Cayman GT4, at the Nurburgring

Photo by: Jan Brucke/VLN

“Before the summer break, it became clear that we are committed to Red Bull for 2026,” said Vermeulen. “I think that’s the right decision. Even if Max could have triggered his performance clause, it was still questionable whether he would have done that.

“Everything can change next year with the new regulations. Then it’s better to wait and see how things unfold – how the field develops and who is where.

“Based on that, you can then look further. This isn’t new, you know. In 2016 we went from Toro Rosso to Red Bull, and later with engines from Renault to Honda.

“Those are all moments when you think: what’s going to happen now? These are developments that the three of us – Max, Jos, and I – constantly monitor. And Max ultimately has the final call.”

Vermeulen acknowledged that it would have been “a huge gamble” to move to another team next year, given the immense scale of the change in the technical regulations. There was no mention of the widespread belief that Mercedes’ engine project is the most advanced, while Red Bull’s in-house programme is experiencing significant difficulties.

In any case, going into the engine-building business was always going to be difficult, even if Red Bull has assistance from Ford and has been poaching high-calibre staff from other manufacturers. The team nearly went to the altar with Porsche but that deal foundered – and there are those who say former team principal Christian Horner had a major role in scuppering the tie-up because Porsche was looking for equity in the team.

Max Verstappen and father Jos

Photo by: Mark Thompson – Getty Images

Another case of politics interfering with performance. And Verstappen does not give a fig about politics.

“Next year it’s not only about the engine, but also about the chassis,” Vermeulen said. “And which people are brought in here, what impact will that have? It’s like putting together a puzzle.

“That’s why the conclusion was that it’s better to stay at least one more year. Max wants to win more championships in the future. He’s not done in that regard, but he is dependent on the equipment.

“So I think 2026 will be a very important year, one that will determine where his future lies in Formula 1.”

This is effectively an ultimatum: Max will use next year to test the waters and will then go to the team with the most competitive car. A soft follow-up question about Max being the most sought-after driver on the grid afforded the opportunity to ram the point home and remind Red Bull that Max does what he wants outside the field of F1.

“It’s simply a fact that Max is the fastest man on the grid,” Vermeulen emphasised. “Every team invests millions to squeeze out a few extra tenths from a car. If you have a driver who already brings those tenths with him, of course you want that driver.

“But Max also gets a lot of freedom at Red Bull. That’s part of this company; it’s not a corporate enterprise. We’ve always put Max’s wishes on the table openly.

#980 Lionspeed GP, Porsche Cayman GT4 – Max Verstappen

Photo by: Jan Brucke/VLN

“And they see Max light up completely when he talks about racing in a GT3 car, for example. And what’s better than having a happy driver in your stable?”

Given that only two weeks ago, Helmut Marko was practically dancing a jig of delight and claiming that Max hadn’t even talked about GT3 racing since the RB21’s performance uplift at Monza, this is a clear and obvious jerking of the leash. Marko has also complained in the past about Verstappen’s sim racing antics, going so far as to say he had banned Max from doing it during grand prix weekends.

So the follow-up question – “Does that [GT racing] give him energy?” – was another gift-wrapped cue to accentuate the point.

“Racing is his passion,” replied Vermeulen, “whether it’s in Formula 1, in the simulator, or in GT3. That really does give him energy.

“And I think it helps him become a better driver. He puts so much time into everything we’re building with Verstappen.com Racing. Together with Atze Kerkhof, for example, he set up Pro Simulations. They provide simulator support for racing teams as well as individual drivers.

“I can see Max completely immersing himself in that.”

The digested message, therefore, is this: you’ve got one more season to prove you can build a competitive car. And keep your noses out of our other business…