As rivals pile the strain on Crimson Bull, Helmut Marko admits that he fears Max Verstappen won’t be at Crimson Bull for for much longer.
Whereas McLaren is simply 8 factors behind the Austrian outfit, with a 39 level deficit even Ferrari is inside putting distance, as Crimson Bull continues to flounder.
Crimson Bull’s final win got here in Spain and within the six races because it has averaged 18 factors, in comparison with McLaren’s 31 and Ferrari and Mercedes 22, the distinction even higher for the reason that summer season break.
Although he has a contract that runs to the top of 2028, Verstappen, who has already admitted that each titles are “not life like”, can have varied opt-out clauses in his contract, certainly on the top of the Horner saga there was discuss of those being triggered sooner fairly than later.
Toto Wolff has made no secret of his want to have the Dutchman at Mercedes, whereas Adrian Newey’s anticipated transfer to Aston Martin will certainly have the Dutchman serious about the Silverstone-based outfit, particularly with Honda supplying the engines.
Aside from the trials and tribulations of the present season, Verstappen has already expressed doubts about 2026 when Crimson Bull will likely be utilizing its personal engine, all of which has Marko fearing for the very worst state of affairs.
“Subsequent yr he will likely be driving for Crimson Bull Racing,” he tells OE24. “However (2026) is so far-off, and for now our full focus is on the 2024 world championship.”
After saying Kimi Antonelli as teammate to George Russell in 2025, Wolff admitted that he nonetheless had his eyes on Verstappen for the longer term.
“I made up my thoughts 5 minutes after Lewis Hamilton instructed me he was going to Ferrari,” stated the Austrian, when requested when he’d determined to go along with Antonelli. “Clearly we had been discussing with different choices, and clearly the Max thought could not be discounted utterly what occurred at Crimson Bull.”
Whereas Mercedes hasn’t given particulars of how lengthy Antonelli’s contract is for, Russell’s present deal runs to the top of 2025.
