Credits: IMAGO PanoramiC, IMAGO Eibner
After the 2023 season, no one would have expected Max Verstappen to leave Red Bull on the back of such a dominating world championship win. However, the supposed internal conflict within Red Bull Racing, which came to light through the internal investigation against Christian Horner during the pre-season, has threatened the stability of the team. To take advantage of Red Bull’s precarious situation, Toto Wolff has been trying everything he can to convince Verstappen to join Mercedes.
The recent slump in the performance of Red Bull has only helped fuel the speculation of Verstappen‘s exit. However, Verstappen has destroyed any hope Wolff might have had of securing his services as the 26-year-old recently confirmed that he intends to stay at Red Bull.
“I think we still have a very, very fast car, and if you look at the season average so far, I think we have the fastest car. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be leading the championship,” said the reigning world champion regarding the recent dip in Red Bull’s form as per a recent post on X.
Another big reason why many thought Verstappen would want to leave Red Bull was a possible concern regarding the team’s upcoming partnership with Ford to develop their own power unit for the big change in the engine regulations, starting in 2026. However, Verstappen remains unfazed by these challenges.
He expressed his happiness with Red Bull’s long-term investments in Red Bull Powertrains, the division responsible for developing their engine. “I’m happy where I am. There’s also a lot of investment on the engine side – in Red Bull Powertrains – and I’m happy. We just need to keep working, keep trying to improve our package,” he added.
Verstappen’s commitment to Red Bull also suggests that Helmut Marko will stay on the team. Previously, Verstappen had threatened to leave Red Bull if the team sacked Marko for the latter’s alleged involvement in compromising Horner.
Max Verstappen threatened to leave Red Bull mid-season
An anonymous source leaked documents from the internal investigation to the wider F1 community ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after Red Bull GmbH exonerated Christian Horner for the alleged inappropriate behavior against a female employee.
Marko, who has close ties with the Verstappen camp, later told the media that his position in the team was in doubt as he was put under investigation for supposedly leaking the said documents. When Verstappen learned that the team could oust Marko, he immediately made clear that the Austrian’s presence in the team was important for him to stay.
However, a couple of days later, the investigation against Dr. Marko was called off. This happened after he met with Oliver Mintzlaff, the Managing Director of Red Bull GmbH following the race in Jeddah.
