Verstappen's Exit Clause Confirmed: 'Yes, That's Fact'

Sunday, 17 March 2024 at 09:00

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher confirmed the existence of a special clause in Max Verstappen's contract that would allow him to leave Red Bull.

Speculation about Max Verstpapen's potential exit from Red Bull Racing first sparked around the time between the Bahrain and the Jeddah race weekends.

It was a bit confusing for many because, according to his current contract, the Dutchman is supposed to stay with his team until the end of the season 2028.

On the other hand, we've recently seen with Lewis Hamilton that contracts often include exit clauses that can be activated. In Verstappen's case, it has been leaked to the media that the triple World Champion could leave the team if Helmut Marko does.

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, who it would be reasonable to assume still knows quite a few people in the paddock, recently confirmed this information for Sky Sports. He said: "Yes, that's a fact. That's what I heard, and the sources are good."

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In the meantime, Helmut Marko's future at Red Bull was uncertain, and the 26-year-old warned that he might leave if the 80-year-old was forced to.

Marko later suggested after a talk with Oliver Mintzlaff (managing director of Red Bull GmbH) that he won't be leaving in the end and that the situation seems to have calmed down a bit. Schumacher continued:

"I don't know whether Verstappen is doing that. I think everyone is cutting into their own flesh here. You can see what's happening here. But it's much worse for all the employees behind it and also for the Red Bull brand."

While there is no more speculation around Marko's potential exit at this point, the female employee who accused Horner of inappropriate behavior apparently lodged a complaint with the FIA on March 6th, so the Red Bull saga continues. The former F1 driver added:

"In this case, I don't understand the Thai side and Christian Horner at all why they are pushing this through with all their might because: What do we owe to Didi Mateschitz? The fact that we are now reacting like this is wrong in my opinion."