\n<\/p>\n
On paper, Verstappen is a Red Bull driver next year and beyond. A Red Bull spokesperson said: “Max has a contract to 2028.”<\/p>\n
At the same time, Verstappen and his management have talked with Mercedes about the possibility of moving there next year. And it’s likely Verstappen could find a way out of his Red Bull contract if he really wanted to.<\/p>\n
Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko said in April that he had “great concern”<\/a> about Verstappen’s future in the team given their performance at the time. And in March he told BBC Sport: “We know that if we don’t deliver for Max, all the top drivers have performance clauses in their contract.”<\/a><\/p>\n For Verstappen, there are obvious reasons why a move away from Red Bull to Mercedes might seem attractive.<\/p>\n He has won four consecutive drivers’ titles with his current team, but in the past 18 months Red Bull have slipped from their competitive pedestal.<\/p>\n Verstappen built up such a large lead in the first half of last season that he was able to hold off a late challenge from McLaren and Lando Norris with relative comfort.<\/p>\n But McLaren started this season off strongly, and Red Bull have not been able to mount a consistent challenge.<\/p>\n Verstappen has taken two wins, but they have come on similar types of circuit – those with predominantly quick corners. On balance, the McLaren is the faster car.<\/p>\n This has come in the context of Red Bull losing their design legend Adrian Newey to Aston Martin, and long-time sporting director Jonathan Wheatley to Sauber.<\/p>\n Former Red Bull driver Sergio Perez, sacked at the end of last season but able to negotiate a deal that forced the team to pay him for the two years of his contract they are not fulfilling, said in a podcast this week that Red Bull’s decline dated directly from Newey’s departure.<\/p>\n It would be no surprise if, in those circumstances, Verstappen’s confidence in Red Bull’s ability to design a fully competitive car had taken a knock.<\/p>\n Then there are the new rules coming into force in F1 next year, which represent a major change to both cars and engines. The engine change is especially large. It increases the proportion of total performance of the engine provided by the electrical components to 50%.<\/p>\n Red Bull have set up a new company to develop and build its own engine. That was always going to be a tough task, and at the moment the widespread belief within F1 is that Mercedes are leading the way on performance with the new engines, and that Red Bull are struggling.<\/p>\n Verstappen, then, is looking at a situation where he has serious question marks about Red Bull’s future prospects, and every reason to believe Mercedes might be able to provide him with a more competitive car next season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n