Max Verstappen appeared in the drivers’ press conference ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix amid speculation over his Red Bull future. Verstappen had one of his most frustrating races in recent memory in Bahrain.
The Dutchman matched his worst results of the 2024 season as he qualified seventh and finished sixth. Verstappen was nearly six-tenths off Oscar Piastri in qualifying, and finished more than 34 seconds behind in the race even with a safety car bunching up the pack.
The four-time world champion complained that his car was borderline undriveable at times. Manager Raymond Vermeulen was seen confronting Helmut Marko after the race, perhaps angered most of all by the team’s uncharacteristically slow pit stops.
Talk about a potential exit has been as loud as ever this week. One report claims that Aston Martin have offered Verstappen £206m per year over five seasons.
Max Verstappen has stopped saying he has a long-term contract at Red Bull
Verstappen’s Red Bull contract runs until the end of 2028 – a point he’s regularly made in the past when addressing his future. But it wasn’t something he mentioned on Thursday.
The Dutchman largely refused to engage with the questions but suggested that the noise was coming from external figures. He may think the contract point no longer bears repeating.
Still, it’s worth noting that Verstappen’s Red Bull deal contains exit clauses. One of those will become active if the team fail to meet a certain performance threshold by the summer.
Speaking on The Race’s YouTube channel, Edd Straw said: “He didn’t even bat it away, saying ‘this is nonsense’, he didn’t even do the standard ‘my contract’s to 2028’ that we’ve heard from him in the past. It seems to me very much like he’s got other people around the place who can agitate.
“Max can just let that play out. He doesn’t have to get involved with it. It’s been set alight and he just has not been putting it out. He doesn’t need to fan the flames.”
Straw’s colleague Scott Mitchell-Malm added that Verstappen has been less forthcoming in the media this season. That reflects his overarching focus on driving.
“As I understand it, he’s been shorter with answers in Dutch media and broadcasting appearances, as well as in English,” he said. “He’s been very, very focused on performance aspects. He doesn’t want to lose any energy at all. He’s got other people that can do that for him.”
Max Verstappen just gave the FIA exactly what they wanted in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix press conference
Verstappen made a borderline rude comment to David Croft when the Sky Sports man pressed him. He told him to focus on commentating, an answer that predictably went viral on social media.
Autosport journalist Mark Mann-Bryans suspects the FIA may have selected Verstappen for the presser precisely because they wanted a journalist to ‘poke the bear’. In that respect, the 27-year-old gave them exactly what they wanted.
“They put him into the drivers’ press conference, and I can’t help but think that was hoping someone might poke the bear and get an answer out of him,” Mann-Bryans said.
Fernando Alonso was involved in the very same press conference. Alonso says it’s ‘unlikely’ that Verstappen will join Aston Martin while he’s still under contract (until the end of 2026).
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