Max Verstappen issues ‘next step’ update with Red Bull future in the balance

Max Verstappen says he will walk away from Formula 1 after his next contract, that’s if he even signs a new one.

The triple World Champion is currently under contract with Red Bull until the end of the 2028 season, but much has been said about his future this season.

Max Verstappen: At the moment, anything is possible

Rumoured in some quarters of the press to be frustrated with Red Bull’s off-track drama as well as the team’s declining form and the loss of Adrian Newey, Verstappen has been linked to a move away from Red Bull.

While Mercedes spent the better part of six months chasing him, Aston Martin were also said to be interested, but for 2025 at least the Dutchman will remain a Red Bull driver.

But the question is, for how much longer?

According to Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko, there is a clause in the 27-year-old’s contract that would allow him to leave Red Bull early.

“The danger is there,” Marko admitted to sport.de. “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.”

Interviewed by Sky Italia, Verstappen was quizzed about that clause and whether it exists.

“Maybe, maybe not,” he replied, before adding: “Everything that awaits in the future is still a long way off and not an issue right now.”

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But if he had to look to the future, he says his next Formula 1 contract for 2029 and beyond will be his final one. That’s of course if he even agrees to a new one.

“My next step, if there is one, will be the last,” he insisted.

And despite the many reports claiming he’s looking at his options out of Red Bull, he hasn’t ruled out extending with the team.

“At the moment, anything is possible,” he said.

“It’s very easy to change teams, but I don’t want my career to be marked by that. I don’t want to be part of four or five different teams.

“I want to feel at home. Changing teams is not my thing and is not something I am concerned with at this stage of my career.”

Verstappen has only raced for the Red Bull franchise in his ten years on the grid having started out with Toro Rosso in 2015 before being promoted to Red Bull a year later.

He’s won 61 Grands Prix, 109 podiums and three World titles with the Milton Keynes squad.

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