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The first race of the 2024 F1 season may be over, but the drama that filled the Bahrain pot is spilling over into the Saudi Arabia race week. Max Verstappen, who most recently won the opening race in Sakhir, has a clause in his contract which allows him to leave the team immediately.
The apparent clause in the Dutch drivers contract allows him to leave if Helmut Marko, current director of the Red Bull Formula One team and head of it’s driver development programme, retires or leaves.
The 80 year old, who is a doctor of law, is responsible for bringing Verstappen to F1 when he was just 17 years old. Speaking to F1-Insider, Marko made it clear that “he will not stand in the way of Max.”
Amongst the turmoil that the dominant Red Bull team find themselves in, thanks to Christian Horner’s supposed leaked WhatsApp messages, the idea of Verstappen leaving only adds fuel to the fire.
With Lewis Hamilton announcing his move to Ferrari for 2025, the seat at Mercedes has captured the attention of Fernando Alonso, but he may now have to battle Verstappen for it.
Jos Verstappen (Verstappen Snr) has made his feelings clear on the Red Bull drama, saying the team would explode if Horner doesn’t leave. A heated conversation was spotted between the two. More importantly, Verstappen Snr was also seen talking to Toto Wolff. This kicked off the idea of Verstappen taking that empty Mercedes seat next year.
Silly season is real. Although Verstappen’s contract takes him to 2028 with Red Bull, the internal damage being dealt by Horner could open the door early for the Dutchman.
It initially seems unlikely for Verstappen to leave the Milton Keynes based team. They have the fastest car, being driven by the quickest driver. Wolff doesn’t think Max will leave Red Bull as long as they remain on top.
He said: “I think the driver will always choose the quickest car. That is fundamentally what it’s all about. At the moment, Red Bull is the quickest car so that will, in my opinion, always be the priority.”
Heading into Jeddah this week, the Red Bull drama is only growing.
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