Max Verstappen’s manager shares update on F1 star’s future amid rampant speculation
Max Verstappen's manager has provided an update on the F1 world champion's uncertain future.
Max Verstappen’s manager, Raymond Vermeulen, has shared an update on the four-time Formula 1 world champion’s future amid rampant speculation.
Verstappen’s already uncertain future has been thrown further into question in recent weeks after it emerged his management team had met with McLaren to hold “preliminary talks” about a potential move.
The 28-year-old Dutchman is contracted to Red Bull until the end of 2028 but has a performance clause in his contract that could enable him to leave at the end of this year if he wanted. It is believed the clause in question does not come into effect until October.
In the meantime, Verstappen and his team have seemingly been exploring his options outside of Red Bull for next year and beyond.
McLaren chief Zak Brown has effectively done everything he can to dismiss the idea of Verstappen joining the team in the near future, having reaffirmed his commitment to current drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Speaking to Austrian publication OE24, Vermeulen moved to quash recent speculation by indicating that Verstappen intends to see out the remainder of his Red Bull deal.
"There's a lot being written about it," Vermeulen said. "But the truth is, Max wants to finish his time with Red Bull. He has a contract until 2028 and would like to fulfil it.
"The fact that this clause exists doesn't mean we'll activate it. We could have activated it in recent years as well, and we haven’t."
Vermeulen also downplayed a recent meeting that took place between himself, Verstappen’s father, Jos, and former Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko in Amsterdam.
"That was a private meeting that had been arranged long ago,” he explained. "Also, Max's sister got married.”
Verstappen, who attended his sister’s wedding in the short break between the British and Belgian grands prix, would not entertain the rumours about McLaren ahead of the race at Silverstone.
Verstappen’s frustrations in 2026 continued at Silverstone after a Red Bull rear wing failure left him beached in a gravel trap at Stowe when running in third place during the closing stages of the British Grand Prix.
It was the second rear wing failure Verstappen’s RB22 had suffered in the space of eight days, following a high-speed crash in qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix.
”I was lucky in Austria, I was lucky here, but that's why you get really fed up with it,” Verstappen said afterwards.
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