Credits: IMAGO / PanoramiC

Max Verstappen is in an ideal place currently with three world championships and on course to a fourth title at Red Bull. Thus, one would expect that all would be well between him and the team. However, that is not the case, as there have been rumors about tensions between the Dutchman and the Milton Keynes outfit, following a slump in their dominant performance and the huge tremor of Adrian Newey’s exit.

Amid all this, Red Bull’s commercial director Nick Stocker cited how Verstappen is still an integral part of the team. According to Front Office Sports, he stated, “Max embodies everything Red Bull stands for. We gambled on him when he was young. He was seventeen when he entered Formula 1. We are the only team Max has worked for in F1.”

However, Stocker further addressed that whenever the 26-year-old decides to retire or leave the team, they have a solid backup of young talent. He mentioned,

“There was a time in Formula 1 when twelve of the twenty drivers on the grid had gone through the Red Bull Junior Academy. We invest in talent and in youth. That embodies the wings giving to people and ideas, a core principle of the Red Bull brand.”

Regardless, as Verstappen, Christian Horner and all other stakeholders at Red Bull have highlighted, the three-time champion will be staying at the team for the long haul. Despite the recent controversy surrounding Horner, Verstappen shares a good relationship with the team’s top management, which won’t deteriorate until something dramatic happens.

How Max Verstappen almost threatened to leave Red Bull

When things went south for Christian Horner over his “inappropriate behavior” controversy, there was a cascading effect on the dynamics in Red Bull‘s top management. Reportedly, power struggles began between the two shareholder factions with Horner and Helmut Marko at different ends of the spectrum.

This dragged Verstappen into the mix when Marko was under threat of a suspension. The three-time champion was having none of it, as he indirectly warned of a tough situation for Red Bull if the Austrian advisor were to exit.

Verstappen’s comments at the Saudi Arabian GP sent shivers down the hierarchy of the Milton Keynes team and its parent company in Austria. In the following days, Marko got a new contract and they dismissed the rumors of his suspension.

All in all, Verstappen was quite clear that he respected Marko immensely and considered him a key pillar of Red Bull’s success. Thus, Marko’s exit would have hurt his motivation to stay on the team, something the Austrian outfit had to consider. As a result, they eventually decide to retain Marko.