Despite sharing his “great” concern that Max Verstappen could quit Red Bull, Helmut Marko has hinted that the driver’s exit clause doesn’t become a problem until the “summer break”.

Last season, as Mercedes publicly courted Verstappen and the driver recorded 10 races on the trot without a win, there was a lot of talk about Verstappen having an exit clause in his contract.

Max Verstappen Red Bull future: Stay or go?

The team admitted there was one in place, Christian Horner telling the media, including PlanetF1.com, at the Dutch Grand Prix: “Every contract has a performance element in it.

“We’re not going to talk about what those elements are, but as long as we provide a competitive car, we know what the situation is.”

Verstappen rebounded from his winless streak to wrap up his fourth successive Drivers’ title, taking the crown ahead of Lando Norris.

Number five, though, is in question with Red Bull struggling to hold onto the rear wing of the rampant McLarens, Norris leading the standings ahead of his team-mate Oscar Piastri.

After a troubled weekend in Bahrain where he qualified seventh and only made up one position in the Grand Prix, Verstappen declared: “McLaren are not my rivals right now. I am just taking part in this World Championship.”

F1 contracts: Made to be broken?

👉 Revealed: The six drivers out of contract at the end of the F1 2025 season

👉 F1 2026 driver line-up: Lewis Hamilton and other drivers already confirmed for 2026

But while Marko acknowledged “the concern is great” that Red Bull’s current form could result in the team losing their four-time World Championship to a rival team as early as F1 2026, he says that’s a worry for later in the season, not right now.

Right now, the goal is to improve the RB21.

“Upgrades are needed for Max to win his fifth world title,” the Red Bull motorsport advisor told Formel1.de. “That is our big goal and the whole team is working hard on it.

“Of course every top driver has an exit clause if performance is not good. But they are all tuned differently.

“That is not a topic at the moment.”

As for when it will be topic, he hinted that Verstappen’s performance clause could come with a summer break deadline amidst reports that lower than third in the Drivers’ standings could allow Verstappen to trigger the exit clause.

Asked if it would be a topic around the summer break, Marko replied: “Yes, that’s the time window.

“But please, we are third in the Drivers’ Championship with a deficit of eight points. The summer break is still a long way off.”

But despite Marko’s talk of the summer break being the telling point, there are whispers in the paddock – and notably amongst the Dutch media – that Verstappen’s exit is already a done deal.

The only question is, is is Aston Martin or Mercedes?

Speaking on Sky’s The F1 Show, Simon Lazenby claimed: “Everybody’s talking about it in the paddock. There’s no two ways about it.

“You go up to people from Dutch media, some of them are saying ‘we think it’s done already’. Others are saying he’s in discussions.

“This is the nature of it. We might as well report what we see, report what we hear. Names will remain anonymous, but there are some that are saying he’s going off to Aston Martin.

“There are some that are saying why on earth, when we think the dynos and the info coming out of Brixworth is that Mercedes are looking really strong for 2026?”

Read next: Our bold predictions for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix