Max Verstappen told to be ‘ruthless and selfish' with F1 future by fellow world champion

Max Verstappen has been told to be “ruthless” and “selfish” when he comes to making a decision about his Formula 1 future by 2009 world champion Jenson Button. 

The four-time world champion’s future at Red Bull remains in the spotlight after it emerged his management had held talks with rivals McLaren about a potential deal. 

Verstappen is contracted to Red Bull until the end of 2028 but is understood to have a performance clause in his current deal that would enable him to leave early and join a rival team next year if he is not in the top two of the drivers’ championship by a certain date this season. 

The speculation surrounding Verstappen’s future has only increased after the Dutchman vented his anger after a rear wing failure caused him to crash out of the British Grand Prix. 

Verstappen, who also suffered a high-speed spin during Austrian Grand Prix qualifying due to a similar issue with his rear wing, labelled his Red Bull “dangerous” and admitted he is  “really fed up” with how F1 is going for him.

And Button wouldn’t be surprised to see Verstappen leave Red Bull and join either Mercedes, or McLaren.  

“If his management weren’t asking around, they’re not doing there job properly. So, they should be asking around,” Button told the Sky Sports F1 podcast. 

“I’m sure there’s two teams that he’d be interested in. McLaren possibly and obviously the big one at the moment, Mercedes. 

“All drivers have contracts, but money talks. So there’s always a way of moving a driver on to somewhere else.

“Max at Red Bull, I think he sounds really frustrated at the moment. He puts a happy face on a lot of the time but I think he’s very frustrated with the situation. 

“A lot of people he’s worked with for many years and won championships with have left and gone elsewhere. 

“It must be very strange. It must feel kind of a bit lonely with in that team for him.  Everyone’s brand new around him. 

“So I think he’ll be looking elsewhere. Yeah, I really do. The team that, if I was his management, would want to put him in is in Mercedes obviously alongside Kimi, or alongside George, whichever one they choose to move on. 

“But you have to. You’ve got to be ruthless, you’ve got to be selfish in his position because he’s a lot further into his career.”