Break clause means Max can walk out on Red Bull
MAX Verstappen, it can be revealed, has an astonishing break clause in his contract that allows him to quit Red Bull if his ally Dr Helmut Marko leaves the team.
The news comes as team boss Christian Horner, defiant after being cleared of charges of improper conduct towards a female colleague, tried to broker a fragile peace with his star driver’s manager Raymond Vermeulen in a meeting in Dubai yesterday.
Mail Sport understands neither Verstappen nor his father, Jos, who wants Horner gone, was involved in the talks ahead of Saturday’s second round of the season in Saudi Arabia.
Verstappen is signed up to Red Bull until 2028, earning at least £50million a year. But the fact his future is tied up with Marko’s means the notion of a switch to Mercedes is not so fanciful.
Marko, an 80-year-old Austrian, is the company’s motorsport adviser.
Triple world champion Verstappen, 26, fought for him when there were moves afoot to shuffle him out of the door last year – manoeuvrings for which Horner was held responsible. It is understood there is still a wedge between the sides.
It was announced in January that Marko had signed a new deal until the end of the 2026 season.
The Verstappen-Marko contract link strengthens their hands in the bitter dispute eating the insides of what is by far the strongest team on the grid.
Verstappen Snr was seen in discussion with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff in Bahrain last week, and they met for dinner at the Four Seasons hotel in Manama, where they were both staying.
It may have been a meeting of friends, as Verstappen Snr told me, but it is hard to believe it was not intended as a shot across Horner’s bows.
Verstappen Snr will not be in Saudi Arabia because he is competing in a rally in Belgium, and may miss a few other races in the early part of the season. He is not typically at every race.
All parties, including him, may not be sorry about his absence. For the atmosphere was combustible in the Bahrain paddock, with Verstappen Snr having a blazing row with Horner in the team hospitality area. He then told Mail Sport that the team would ‘explode’ if Horner did not quit. He accused him of ‘playing the victim when he is the problem’.
It is believed that Max, who is not a political animal but a focused racer, wants calmness so he can get on with the business of win- ning races uninterrupted.
He cantered to victory in Bahrain in what will surely start a surge to a fourth consecutive world title.
As for the ‘peace talks’ in Dubai, it is believed they went smoothly, but how long any ceasefire can hold is questionable given the extent of the bloodletting.
Horner’s position looks reasonably secure for now, barring any new evidence coming to light.
Accompanied by his wife, the former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, in the Gulf before her expected return to the UK ahead of the Saudi Arabian race, he is said to be in good spirits.