On January 16, the English “Daily Mail” released a sensational story on its website, written by the Formula 1 journalist Jonathan Mcevoy, well known in Paddock. The original line was: “Aston Martin Target Max Verstappen in £ 1Billion deal for red Bull’s Four-Time World Champion to Turn Formula One on Its Head-After Signing Up £ 20m-Aear Star Designer Adrian Newey”.
So, analogously: Aston Martin wants to reject world champion Max Verstappen from Red Bull and offers a fee that has never existed in this dimension in Formula 1 history, with a volume of one billion pound on the entire contract period.
The equivalent would be around 1.2 billion euros – or, in other words, an incredible 1,200 million euros. “Quite a lot of money,” grins Verstappen, without explicitly denying that he has an offer from Aston Martin.
Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s motorsport consultant, would at least not be surprised if that was the case. At the request of “Motorsport-Total.com” he explains: “That Newey is a big Max fan is no secret. And then it is only logical that you make an offer.”
Formula 1: The specific background of the rumors explained
In its story of January 16, the “Daily Mail” had made the claim that “Jefferson Slack, a close confidant of the Canadian billionaire and Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll, recently claimed potential investors that the 27-year-old Dutchman will join the team “.
From a stroll perspective, this would make sense: With Andy Cowell, he now has a new team boss who has been responsible for the engine development at Mercedes with which the silver arrows were unbeatable for years from 2014. He also has star designer Adrian Newey, who, despite the progressive age, is still considered a genius in the field of aerodynamics.
But he also has his son Lance as a driver, from whose talent Newey behind the scenes, he should only be moderately impressed. And Fernando Alonso is in the middle of the age of 43 in the middle of his Formula 1 career, if not just before the end.
In the situation to keep an eye out for the best driver, if you have large ambitions like stroll, would only be obvious.
But Verstappen himself claims that at the story someone has added one and one together and made three of them: “The only contact I had with them was because of GT3 for this year. This is all. There is not much else to say about it Because there is nothing.
Verstappen’s own racing team: these are the plans
Verstappen has never made a secret of the fact that he also has 1 plans in motorsport outside of Formula. He wants to take part in iconic long -distance races such as the 24 hours of Le Mans and is currently building his own racing team. The e-sports team Redline, for the Verstappen SIM race, already runs in the colors of Verstappen.com, as well as Verstappen’s father Jos in his rally appearances and Thierry Vermeulen in the DTM.
Thierry Vermeulen is the son of Raymond Vermeulen, Verstappens Manager, and a Dutch racing driver who is to contest GT events for Verstappen.com in the future. Verstappen.com is currently planning missions in the GT World Challenge, with one – and here the circle closes – Aston Martin Vantage Amr GT3 Evo.
According to information from “Motorsport-Total.com”, the second driver could become Chris Lulham. Lulham celebrated success after the karting, especially in SIM racing and thus fits perfectly in Verstappen’s vision, SIM racers to offer a platform in real motorsport. In 2024 Lulham crowned the master of the Hagerty Radical Cup UK.
Vermeulen already gained experience in the GT World Challenge Europe (GTWCE), where he started with a Ferrari 296 GT3 for Emil Frey Racing-the team with which he also started in the DTM in 2024. Since the racing calendars of the GTWCE and the DTM 2025 do not overlap, it would theoretically be possible for venison to combine all three championships – DTM, GTWC Sprint and GTWC Endurance.
With his real-life racing team, Verstappen is pursuing the goal of bringing young talents from the simulator to the race track. Verstappen.com is currently planning a collaboration with 2 Seas Motorsport for the racing missions, and the Formula 1 champion itself was recently sitting in a test in Le Castellet at the wheel of the Vantage GT3, painted in the same colors as his private jet.
Marko: Offer would be obvious from an Aston perspective
So it seems quite plausible that Verstappen’s possible contacts with Aston Martin primarily revolve around GT customer cars, as he claims. “But,” says Helmut Marko, “if you have a Newey who also expresses his own ideas and wishes on the driver’s side, it would only be logical if Aston Martin tried to make Max an offer.”
“Officially, contact has been made about Max’s GT passion, and Max is a team owner and always drives these GT cars himself, and Aston Martin is allegedly one of the most interesting cars. In Max ‘GT structure If such a car is installed. “
That was “the carrot”, speculates Marko, who in this respect says doubts about the “Daily Mail” story when he cannot imagine that Stroll could build more than a billion for such a coup: “Whether it really In such a height, I doubt the current share price of Aston Martin. gave. “
A billion pounds: is that really realistic?
According to “Daily Mail”, Aston Martin Verstappen offers an annual salary of around 200 million pounds (equivalent to 240 million euros). In addition, he should receive a stock package. The bottom line would result in about one billion pounds over the entire contract period, which could extend to the end of his driver’s career.
Christian Horner considers the story to be a product of the winter break, “in which you also have to fill your newspaper columns”. But a billion pounds in his eyes are a “breathtaking sum”, especially since the market value of Aston Martin Lagonda, which associated with the Formula 1 team, was roughly halved in 2024.
“Is that realistic? No,” the Red Bull team boss answers his own rhetorical question himself. And he underlines: “No team could afford it, regardless of who is behind it. express the finances of the team, but Red Bull is financially relatively well positioned in comparison to other teams in the pit lane. “
Verstappen: Red Bull is “like a second family for me”
Horner is certain: “Max is very happy in the environment in which he is located. He grew up with the team, has a great relationship with the engineers, technicians and everyone with whom he works. To provide competitive car and continue to offer him the platform where he has been able to celebrate his success in the past almost ten years. “
A representation that underlines Verstappen himself: Red Bull, he says, is “like a second family for me. I enjoy working with the team, these are good people. And I’m not just connected to Red Bull in Formula 1 , but also do a lot with them outside of Formula 1.
It is not an argument that he would meet an old acquaintance with Newey with Newey with Newey, known to the Verstappen: “This is a thing of the past. He is no longer here. It was already the case last year. I have great respect for our team.
Conclusion: How plausible is the story?
The fact is: Even if there is a lot against the plausibility of the “Daily Mail” story, there is nobody who says clip and clearly: “There is no true, there has never been any reason”, and justified it and supported with details. Even from the Aston-Martin side, the story is basically denied without explicitly underlining that the rumors are without the basis.
For example, team boss Andy Cowell says, specifically asked how solidly the media reports are that you are currently “very happy”, because: “We have Lance and Fernando, two drivers with great experience, and we have under contract in the long term.” An answer that evades the actual question.
Cowell continues: “The key to this team is to build a fast racing car. We did not do that last year, and this gave rise to great media pressure on our drivers. The pressure should go in our direction. We have the task, we have the task, Building a fast racing car. And if we succeed, I am sure that the drivers will also deliver. “
Christian Horner thinks it is conceivable that team owners such as Lawrence Stroll or Toto Wolff will try to hire Verstappen: “Every team boss who does not want to know what Max ‘contract does not do.” But: “I think he feels comfortable with us. He has grown up with us, and everyone in the team knows exactly what to do. I think Max is in good hands with us.”