Marko warns Red Bull on the risk of losing Max: “You have to allow him to return to win”. In the background the possibility of the Dutchman to get rid if the car is not up to par
The Bahrain GP has left its mark. Max Verstappen He arrived 6th in the race, far from the winner Oscar Plastri with a Red Bull that seems very far from McLaren capable so far of winning three out of four races. And this is a huge problem, one who pushes Red Bull Helmut Marko councilor to say “very worried” for the 4 -time world champion team.
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“The concern is so great – Marko said to Sky Germany -. Improvements are needed in the near future so that Max has a car with which to win the great prizes again. We must create the foundations for having a car that allows him to fight for the World Cup”. Marko and Red Bull’s concerns go beyond this slow departure, With Verstappen third in the Piloti World Cup And winning in Japan only thanks to the pole position conquered with an extraordinary lap. The 27 -year -old has a contract until 2028, but as Marko himself revealed a few weeks ago, the BBC inside is contained a clause that allows him to free himself in the event of performance not up to par. Councilor Red Bull has not revealed the exact terms of the quibble, but it is also evident by these new statements that Verstappen must have a car for contract that allows him to fight for the World Cup. Otherwise he is free to look for one elsewhere.
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Japan was an exception in a series of problems that began in the second part of 2024, with Verstappen who won only two of the last 13 races after dominating the first part. In this 2025 the Red Bull in qualifying is the second fastest car, but travels over 2/10 at the slowest tour of the McLaren and the Team Principal Chris Horner after Bahrain admitted that the problems of the machine in this first part of the season are similar to those of last year. For now Verstappen remains “relaxed” on his future, as he said at the beginning of the season. But if Red Bull is “very worried”, to put it as Marko, it is clear that he feels the situation as a problem. The other teams are at the window, starting with Mercedes: Toto Wolff, after all, has never hidden as much as he would like to have Verstappen in his team.