Red Bull faces a pivotal moment with Verstappen’s future at stake, as the team aims for critical updates ahead of the Imola Grand Prix.
Helmut Marko is hoping that all the rumors surrounding Max Verstappen’s future will soon be put to rest. Amidst speculation linking the four-time world champion to Mercedes, Aston Martin, McLaren, Ferrari, and even Alpine, Verstappen has remained calm and collected, especially during his time in Saudi Arabia.
“I don’t know, to be honest,” Verstappen responded during a press conference in Jeddah on Thursday. “Naturally, Bahrain wasn’t a great weekend for us. I think we were all pretty disappointed with that. But honestly, a lot of people are talking about it, except for me.”
When asked by British commentator David Croft, Verstappen gave a slightly sarcastic reply, saying: “I think we just need to focus on the comments. I’ll focus on driving.”
Verstappen did not deny, however, that his manager, Raymond Vermeulen, had a tense conversation with Marko right after the Bahrain Grand Prix. “I think, to my knowledge, they just had a conversation about everything… everything that’s allowed, I think,” Verstappen explained.
“If someone picks up on it, people will always interpret things their way. But I think we were all frustrated with the result and, of course, with the things that went wrong during the race.”
Recently, Marko opened up about the potential timing of contract exit clauses tied to performance, admitting that these clauses could come into play around “the summer.”
In an interview with Kleine Zeitung, Marko reassured fans: “I’ve said it many times. Max’s main goal is the world championship. If we provide him with the car he needs to achieve that, the question of a change won’t even arise.”
However, Marko remains concerned, acknowledging that the upcoming races in Jeddah and Miami “will be really tough for us” before the expected updates to the car at Imola. “If we want to stay in the title fight, we need to be on the podium in the next three races.”
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