Max Verstappen and Red Bull are poised to become the most dominant combination Formula 1 has ever seen. However, Verstappen keeps flirting with thoughts of resignation. Helmut Marko hopes that his protégé will at least remain loyal to the contract.
“Max doesn’t just say something like that,” commented Marko on “oe24.at” about Verstappen’s statements: “I hope that he will keep his contract, which runs until 2028, to the end. Who knows: maybe he will arrive one day and says: Thanks, that’s it.”
Formula 1: 2026 cars do not taste Verstappen (yet).
Verstappen had recently let it be known that he would end his Formula 1 career if he no longer enjoyed the premier class, the racing calendar was even fuller or the rules were changed too much.
After a simulator test, the world champion also criticized the new generation of cars that will be on the track in Formula 1 from 2026. The concept “seems strange to him. I think it’s all going to be too complicated. We have to look at it from the engine side in particular,” said the Dutchman. Half of the Formula 1 engines will be powered electrically from 2016, which will have an impact on driving behavior.
It is nevertheless normal for drivers who dominate with the status quo cars to take a critical view of rule changes. With the rules that have been in force since 2022, Verstappen and Red Bull have dominated Formula 1 even more than Mercedes before them. In the current season, the “Bulls” have won all ten races, the defending champion has triumphed eight times and Sergio Perez twice. Red Bull has won 11 consecutive Grands Prix across the seasons, equaling McLaren’s record set in 1988.
Which brand is next? “I’ll be surprised what you dig up next and I’ll definitely be made aware of it,” says Marko: “In fact, I would never have dared to dream that we would penetrate into these spheres. The Vettel series was scary for me.”