Max Verstappen primed to get ‘nice little bonus’ from Red Bull | F1 | Sport
Max Verstappen has been told there is nowhere realistic for him to go if he decides to walk away from Red Bull in the coming months. With no driver vacancies at any of the other top Formula 1 teams, one former racer expects the Dutchman to “stay where he is and hope for the better”, while also pushing to land “a nice little extra bonus” on top.
Verstappen has a Red Bull contract until 2028 but it is an open secret that it contains exit clauses that he can trigger if certain performance criteria are not met. It is understood that, because he is not second or higher in the drivers’ championship as of the start of this summer break, he has until October to trigger an exit should he choose to.
And for some time there has been serious threat that he might decide to walk away. Red Bull’s performance relative to their rivals has slipped away and Verstappen has been miserable behind the wheel of this new generation of F1 cars all year. Even at the Hungaroring on Sunday, where he finished second, he spent the whole race complaining about how bad his car felt to drive.
But despite having threatened to leave F1 entirely earlier in the year, Verstappen seems set to stick around for 2027 at least now that the FIA World Motor Sport Council has agreed tweaks to the engine rules. Former F1 racer and current TV pundit Christian Danner is convinced that it will be with Red Bull, for lack of other options.
He told Express Sport, via OLBG: “I always said, ‘No way he’s going to leave’, because where could he go? Is Ferrari going fire Lewis Hamilton? No, because he’s in form, and finally they get what they paid for. And the same with Charles Leclerc. He’s a part of the Ferrari mentality, so they’re not going to fire him. There’s no room for Max at Ferrari.
“McLaren: is Zak Brown going to fire Oscar Piastri? Well, maybe, but what is he going to create? He’s going to create an infinite fight between Lando Norris and Max because Lando is not prepared to accept the fact that Max is faster. Max would go there and take the break the whole thing into pieces. Zak Brown is, don’t forget, the manager of Lando, so I don’t think so.
“Mercedes: absolutely identical thing. If Toto Wolff wants to continue winning championships, he’s got Kimi Antonelli, his own product, and he’s got George Russell who I think is eventually going to do an exceptionally good job. He’s not going to be erratic, he’s not going to be stupid. So, also, no room for Max, because imagine Kimi versus Max. It’s going to tear the team apart.
“So where else can he go? He’s going to stay where he is and hope for the better, ask for more money, which is also a nice little extra bonus, and that’s it. Then we’ll see from then on.”
