Max Verstappen’s Red Bull future is in doubt after a desperately poor weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix. There’s growing chatter that he’s run out of patience with Christian Horner’s squad.
Verstappen needed a last-lap overtake on Pierre Gasly to salvage a P6 from Sunday’s race. That matched his poorest finish of the 2024 campaign.
The reigning world champion complained throughout that the car was borderline undriveable. He’d qualified on the fourth row, nearly six-tenths off McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
Red Bull also made highly uncharacteristic pit-stop errors, costing Verstappen multiple seconds. Following Liam Lawson’s rapid demotion, the loss of multiple senior figures and their decline in performance last year, the team is arguably in crisis.
It was less than a fortnight ago that Verstappen won the Japanese GP after a magical pole lap. But the consensus is that his historic talent is covering up some of Red Bull’s limitations – teammate Yuki Tsunoda didn’t even score a point in Suzuka.
Some F1 paddock insiders believe Max Verstappen is headed to Aston Martin
Verstappen’s Red Bull contract runs until the end of 2028, so on the face of it Red Bull are in control.
However, it’s recently emerged that Verstappen’s exit clause kicks in this summer if the team fail to meet a certain sporting benchmark. Aston Martin and Mercedes could spy an opportunity.
According to Sky Sports’ Simon Lazenby, speaking on the F1 Show, some Dutch paddock insiders think Verstappen’s departure is a done deal. There’s talk he’s ‘going off to Aston Martin’.
Others insist that he’s still in negotiations and regard Mercedes as a better option. The Silver Arrows are expected to build the best power unit for the upcoming regulation changes.
“Everybody’s talking about it in the paddock,” Lazenby said. “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?
How much Max Verstappen could earn if he leaves Red Bull for Aston Martin
Aston Martin are currently seventh in the world championship and haven’t scored a point for three races. It would be a significant gamble to join without seeing how they stack up in 2026.
However, Verstappen may draw confidence from the presence of Adrian Newey, who’s designed all four of his title-winning cars to date. What’s more, he can reignite his partnership with Honda as they split with Red Bull and set up shop at Silverstone.
Verstappen spoke glowingly about Honda after his fairytale Japan win. He knows Lawrence Stroll is investing enormous sums in his pursuit of glory.
To that end, Verstappen could net £206m if he signs the five-year contract that’s on the table. That would, of course, smash the record for the biggest F1 contract ever.
