As rivals pile the pressure on Red Bull, Helmut Marko admits that he fears Max Verstappen will not be at Red Bull for much longer.

While McLaren is just 8 points behind the Austrian outfit, with a 39 point deficit even Ferrari is within striking distance, as Red Bull continues to flounder.

Red Bull's last win came in Spain and in the six races since it has averaged 18 points, compared to McLaren's 31 and Ferrari and Mercedes 22, the difference even greater since the summer break.

Though he has a contract that runs to the end of 2028, Verstappen, who has already admitted that both titles are "not realistic", will have various opt-out clauses in his contract, indeed at the height of the Horner saga there was talk of these being triggered sooner rather than later.

Toto Wolff has made no secret of his desire to have the Dutchman at Mercedes, while Adrian Newey's anticipated move to Aston Martin will surely have the Dutchman thinking about the Silverstone-based outfit, especially with Honda supplying the engines.

Other than the trials and tribulations of the current season, Verstappen has already expressed doubts about 2026 when Red Bull will be using its own engine, all of which has Marko fearing for the very worst scenario.

"Next year he will be driving for Red Bull Racing," he tells OE24. "But (2026) is so far away, and for now our full focus is on the 2024 world championship."

After announcing Kimi Antonelli as teammate to George Russell in 2025, Wolff admitted that he still had his eyes on Verstappen for the future.

"I made up my mind five minutes after Lewis Hamilton told me he was going to Ferrari," said the Austrian, when asked when he'd decided to go with Antonelli. "Obviously we were discussing with other options, and obviously the Max idea couldn't be discounted completely looking at what happened at Red Bull."

While Mercedes hasn't given details of how long Antonelli's contract is for, Russell's current deal runs to the end of 2025.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 11/09/2024 3:44

"Verstappen is, IMO, a conviction driver who exhibits a very high degree of honesty, loyalty + integrity. Those are admirable qualities and they are under constant evaluation by winners no matter where you roam. All that aside they are are also constantly looking for more and that drive will serve them well in order to stay ahead of the game. Verstappen will be best served to distance himself from those who would seek to erode his surrounding support. Will we ever get to know the facts behind the Red Bull imbroglio and the unsuccessful attempt to unseat Horner? Max ultimately navigated that will certain applomb. A move th AM would interesting to contemplate."

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2. Posted by @R1Racing71, 10/09/2024 12:55

"You are going to have trouble convincing me that he won't be at AM in 2026."

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3. Posted by Superbird70, 09/09/2024 15:47

"At least if he does retire, having more than 1 WC under his belt, he won't be selected to be an 'On Air' personalty, giving his opinions at F1 races."

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4. Posted by Spindoctor, 09/09/2024 13:56

"The whole "will he, won't he" about Verstappen fils leaves me pretty cold. His departure from RBR is, as @Max Noble points-out, inevitable. VMax has said that he might well simply retire (from driving, anyway). Or he may go to another team. Quite frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.

The fascinating aspect of this saga is essentially peripheral to VMax & revolves around RBR's ability to produce a fast car for 2025 & more importantly, 2026 onwards. If they fail in that task, then VM's departure to a faster steed is almost inevitable, but then there's that suggestion of retirement...,."

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5. Posted by Max Noble, 09/09/2024 8:15

"As noted in my “Just 17” article… the teams have been around far longer than any current driver. Heck! Even the Team Principals are younger than Ferrari! We need to look to a certain Mr. E. Who was already nine years old when Ferrari was founded for some one older!

At some point V. Max will either retire, or change teams. At some point, hopefully many decades from now, he like Enzo will die. Yet, Liberty Media madness aside, F1 should still be rolling along.

I’d love to see V. Max at Mercedes. At Aston. At Ferrari. Possibly not Haas or Sauber… Most awesome? Buy Renault. Rename the team Verstappen Racing and do a Bruce McLaren… go win races in cars with your own name on them! Now that would be cool…

Meanwhile Marko rumbles on…. (One should note he tends to be right more often than he’s wrong… which is a completely different thing to be liked in the media…)
"

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Marko admits doubt over Verstappen's future at Red Bull

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