02/03/2022
NEWS STORY
According to media reports, Max Verstappen is in-line to sign a new deal with Red Bull worth an estimated £40m a year.
If true - and bear in mind one of the sources reporting the amount is the Daily Mail - the world champion would be on around the same salary as seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton.
Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf is claiming that Verstappen has agreed a new four-year deal with Red Bull for around $50m a year, though no sources are quoted.
Despite the ongoing controversy over the events in Abu Dhabi - just how did the FIA reach its ludicrous non-decision on Russian involvement in motorsport in just 24 hours while Abu Dhabi remains unresolved almost three months later - Helmut Marko recently commented on the Dutch driver's value to the team.
"Max has clearly matured," the Austrian told Autorevue recently. "This process of maturity wasn't always so visible from the outside, but it has reached the highest level very quickly.
"You have to remember he's still only 24," he added. "He drives almost flawlessly, he has improved in all areas and is no longer impetuous.
"In the past, he would have liked to do everything on the first lap," he admitted. "If something didn't go right in preparation, he would always explode. Today he stays calm."
Verstappen's bumper pay rise will have been made possible courtesy of a number of deals Red Bull has agreed since Abu Dhabi, not least the reported $500m title sponsorship agreement with Oracle.