Red Bull could trigger an exit clause in Max Verstappen’s F1 2026 contract if he remains below third in the Drivers’ Championship “after a significant part of” next season, it has been claimed.

Coming after Christian Horner Red Bull the team boss told the media, including PlanetF1.com: Verstappen‘s contract contains a “performance element”.

Details of rumors regarding Max Verstappen’s Red Bull contract exit clause

Although Verstappen has a contract until the end of the F1 2028 season, it is thought he will leave Red Bull through F1 2024 due to the team’s decline in on-track performance and tensions between his father Jos and Horner.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has made no secret of his desire to sign Verstappen as the F1 2025 successor to Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton, before selecting young sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli as George Russell’s new team-mate.

However, with the length of Antonelli’s contract unspecified and Russell’s current contract expiring at the end of F1 2025, Mercedes is expected to renew its interest in Verstappen next year ahead of major rule changes in F1 2026.

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Verstappen has also been linked with a move to Aston Martin, where he could reunite with F1 design genius Adrian Newey and Red Bull’s current engine suppliers Honda, which will enter into a technical partnership with the Silverstone-based team in F1 2026.

Verstappen, who had the most dominant season in F1 history in 2023 and achieved the World Championship for the third consecutive time by setting a new record with 19 wins throughout the season, was expected to win his fourth championship in F1 2024.

However, Verstappen, who started the season with four wins from the first five races, has since taken three more wins and has not won since the Spanish Grand Prix on 23 June; This is the longest nine-race series since 2020.

The 2025 F1 season has the potential to be the most dramatic season in recent memory, with Red Bull trying to reverse its mid-season slump, with current Constructors’ Championship leaders McLaren, as well as Ferrari and Mercedes, taking multiple wins this season.

And a more competitive season could create the conditions for Verstappen to leave Red Bull, with details of the rumored exit clause emerging for the first time.

A report prepared by Times Verstappen claims he would be eligible to leave Red Bull “if he remains outside the top three in the Drivers’ Championship after a significant part of the season”.

Such contract clauses normally apply to summer holidays; PlanetF1.com revealed earlier this year that a clause in Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez’s deal gave Red Bull the freedom to let him go in August. He was 100 points behind Verstappen during the summer break.

If true, this clause would appear to reflect an arrangement in one of the earlier deals between Verstappen and Red Bull, which was linked to Mercedes and Ferrari in the summer of 2019.

While Verstappen entered the Hungarian Grand Prix, the last race before the summer break, in third place in the drivers’ standings, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko claimed that the exit clause would also apply for 2020 if he fell behind fourth-place Sebastian Vettel in Budapest. .

Verstappen overrode his exit clause by finishing second to Hamilton in Hungary, strengthening his grip on third place in the Championship.

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com at this year’s Dutch Grand Prix, Horner confirmed Verstappen’s current contract, signed in March 2022, includes “a performance element”.

But he expressed optimism that the World Champion will remain loyal to Red Bull as long as the team provides him with a leading car.

Asked about Verstappen’s future at Zandvoort, Horner said: “I find it surprising that there is so much discussion about this issue in the open media.

“The situation between Max and I has always been clear and I think others may speak out, but we are happy with where we are now.”

“It’s up to us to deliver. We have an agreement until 2028, so it’s up to us to deliver.”

“2028 is far away. It’s up to us to provide a race-winning car.

“Every contract has a performance (clause) element in it.

“We won’t talk about what those elements are, but we know what the situation is as long as we provide a competitive car.”

Despite recent reports in the German media that his father and Wolff have reached a gentleman’s agreement to join Mercedes for F1 2026, Verstappen has insisted he plans to complete his full current Red Bull contract soon.

he said AFP: “This is definitely the intention. “I have signed a long-term deal with the team and in a perfect world, of course, we will end it here.”

Mercedes is believed to be advanced in preparations for the F1 2026 season, which includes major changes to chassis and engine regulations, including a move to 50 percent electrification and fully sustainable fuel.

The Brackley-based team had previously emerged as F1’s dominant force at the start of the V6 hybrid engine era in 2014, after which it won a record eight consecutive constructors’ championships and seven drivers’ championships, shared between Mercedes, Hamilton (six) and Nico Rosberg. (One).

To talk sky germany During his visit to this year’s Spanish Grand Prix, Mercedes CEO Ola Kallenius said the 2026 rule changes would represent “an opportunity” to tempt Verstappen, saying the Red Bull star would “look good in silver”.

He said: “The best driver wants to have the best car. It is our job to put together the best package.

“The cards will be shuffled again in 2026. New order with new rules. This is also an opportunity. Who knows?

“But I think Max would look good in silver, right?”

visible on Formula of Success In a podcast broadcast in the summer, former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan said that Wolff and Kallenius, as well as Sir Jim Ratcliffe, owner of INEOS, which owns one-third of Mercedes, were preparing a “fight fund” to cover Verstappen’s fight. He claimed that they met in Monaco earlier this year. salary in anticipation of the Dutchman’s arrival.

Jordan said: “There was a meeting in Monaco between Toto, INEOS’ Jim Ratcliffe (and) Ola Kallenius and together they set up a challenge fund to eliminate the possibility of a wage requirement to cover Max.

“Max was aware of this. I’m not sure he was actually at the meeting but it certainly gives some indication that Toto and his team were determined to bring Max on board at some stage.

“We shouldn’t be surprised to see Max in a Mercedes car in the coming years.”

Jordan predicted Hamilton would make a shock switch from McLaren to Mercedes at the end of the 2012 season.

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