As rivals pile the stress on Purple Bull, Helmut Marko admits that he fears Max Verstappen won’t be at Purple Bull for for much longer.
Whereas McLaren is simply 8 factors behind the Austrian outfit, with a 39 level deficit even Ferrari is inside placing distance, as Purple Bull continues to flounder.
Purple Bull’s final win got here in Spain and within the six races because it has averaged 18 factors, in comparison with McLaren’s 31 and Ferrari and Mercedes 22, the distinction even larger because the summer time break.
Although he has a contract that runs to the top of 2028, Verstappen, who has already admitted that each titles are “not life like”, may have varied opt-out clauses in his contract, certainly on the top of the Horner saga there was discuss of those being triggered sooner slightly than later.
Toto Wolff has made no secret of his need to have the Dutchman at Mercedes, whereas Adrian Newey’s anticipated transfer to Aston Martin will certainly have the Dutchman excited about the Silverstone-based outfit, particularly with Honda supplying the engines.
Apart from the trials and tribulations of the present season, Verstappen has already expressed doubts about 2026 when Purple Bull can be utilizing its personal engine, all of which has Marko fearing for the very worst state of affairs.
“Subsequent 12 months he can be driving for Purple Bull Racing,” he tells OE24. “However (2026) is so distant, and for now our full focus is on the 2024 world championship.”
After asserting Kimi Antonelli as teammate to George Russell in 2025, Wolff admitted that he nonetheless had his eyes on Verstappen for the long run.
“I made up my thoughts 5 minutes after Lewis Hamilton instructed me he was going to Ferrari,” stated the Austrian, when requested when he’d determined to go along with Antonelli. “Clearly we have been discussing with different choices, and clearly the Max thought could not be discounted fully what occurred at Purple Bull.”
Whereas Mercedes hasn’t given particulars of how lengthy Antonelli’s contract is for, Russell’s present deal runs to the top of 2025.
