Helmut Marko issues new Max Verstappen update amid fresh Mercedes links

Rumours have been swirling about Max Verstappen’s future at Red Bull Racing since the team took its first performance dip in mid-2024, including after another challenging weekend in Austria.

But Red Bull Racing special advisor Helmut Marko has once again reaffirmed what the team has been saying: Verstappen isn’t going off to Mercedes any time soon.

Helmut Marko denies Max Verstappen team swap rumours

Where will Max Verstappen race in the future? Is he set to make a swap to a new team? Plenty of people have believed that could be the case.

Even though the driver is contracted with Red Bull Racing through the 2028 season, speculation has continued that claims Verstappen may have a performance clause in his contract that could allow him to cancel his contract if certain provisions aren’t met.

Despite taking home a fourth consecutive championship in 2024, speculation about this move first kicked off partway through last season, when it became clear that the RB20 was lagging behind the competition. As outfits like McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari took advantage of updates that brought them into contention for wins, the RB20 failed to make similar leaps and bounds. That Verstappen would take the title was a testament to his dominant start to the year.

Now, in 2025, the team’s RB21 challenger has faced similar struggles, but with one key concern: Verstappen wasn’t able to build up a points gap at the head of the championship standings. McLaren has instead gained a head start on the season. With Mercedes driver George Russell still waiting to renew his Mercedes contract, Verstappen’s name has been regularly linked to the seat.

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The Austrian Grand Prix was another challenging weekend for the Red Bull team, as well as for Max Verstappen. The RB21 could only manage a best qualifying position of seventh on the grid despite the fact that the car boasted an upgrade designed to boost performance. Then, just after race start, Verstappen was hit by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli for a DNF.

The reigning champion kept a cool head after the incident, noting that every driver makes mistakes like Antonelli’s at some point in their career. But another difficult result has only continued to raise speculation about Verstappen’s future.

Red Bull Racing special advisor Helmut Marko, though, denied that this result would push Verstappen into the arms of a competitor.

Speaking with ORF after the race, he was asked about his lead driver’s future, only to quickly shut down the question.

“I assume that you take advantage of a race like this, but you have to allow it again, and I think you can leave it at that now,” he said.

“He has a contract until 2028, like all top teams; there are release clauses based on performance, and as things stand, there’s no reason at all why this contract couldn’t be fulfilled.”

Building off that release clause mention, ORF asked if conditions for an early release had been met.

“They are currently such that there is no concern whatsoever about an exit,” Marko affirmed.

“You don’t get any details! Unfortunately, I find it difficult to calculate the details of the points difference, and I don’t remember them either.”

Despite Marko’s confidence that Verstappen will remain with the team, speculation has continued that Verstappen has the power to activate an exit clause if he sits lower than third in the World Drivers’ Championship standings at a specific point in the F1 2025 season. That key date is said to be around August’s summer break.

Even if that’s the case, Verstappen currently remains third in the WDC with 155 points — but George Russell is beginning to to catch up quickly with 146 points.

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