Following another impressive run at the Saudi Arabian GP, Max Verstappen, the Red Bull ‘Flying Dutchman,’ is once again in the driving seat to clinch the Australian Grand Prix. At the same time, his Red Bull seat is in a vulnerable spot due to a possible exit at the season’s end.
Amidst both of these events, Max Verstappen has now come out with a ‘surprising’ remark on the speculations linking him away from Red Bull.
Max Verstappen has decided his Red Bull F1 future
In a recent interview with Formula 1, Max Verstappen–the reigning World Champion–finally addressed the ‘piping-hot’ rumors linking him away from Red Bull to Mercedes’s hot seats, where Toto Wolff would ‘love to see’ the Dutchman.
During this media session, Verstappen, who holds a contract with Red Bull through the 2028 season, made his stance clear on his exit rumors by stating that Red Bull is “where he wants to be” going forward into the season and beyond.
Talking about the ‘headlining’ rumors about his possible exit, he responded, by contrarily questioning the reporters, “I think there’s every reason to be happy, right?”
“The car’s going really well, there’s so many great people in the team that are constantly pushing for better results, so for me that’s what I focus on,” he explained his reasoning.
Max Verstappen reiterates that he is staying with Red Bull long term
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) March 21, 2024
“That's why, of course, I signed the deal (until 2028) in the first place, what I said before also, I'm happy within the team.”
“Of course, it's very important that we try to keep the key players in the team… pic.twitter.com/QZ6EAx1BQS
“I focus on the performance, I’m happy, and when I go home, I don’t think about any other thing because it’s pretty fixed where I’m at also, and that’s also where I want to be.”
Max Verstappen is currently running in his best form as of yet, with a stunningly perfect ‘two wins in the opening two rounds’ start to the 2024 F1 season, and is even the hot favorite to grab the pole position at the Aussie GP.
Backing up his ‘happy at Red Bull’ claims, he reflected on his current form, by adding, “I think it’s definitely been the best start so far to a year for me personally in the car. It’s just a good balance, but I think also as a team we operated really well without too many mistakes.”
“So, of course, I’m very happy with that, and I hope that we can continue that way. We try to keep on learning what we can do better, but it’s been very positive,” Verstappen concluded, ending his exit rumors once and for all.
These “happy at Red Bull” words from Verstappen come at time, when his teammate, Sergio Perez, weighed in his insights on the potential exit links and expressed his concerns about its after-effects on the team.
Sergio Perez shares this thoughts on Max Verstappen exit rumors
In another interview before the Aussie GP, Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez also shared his hot take on the rumors linking his partner Max Verstappen out of the Red Bull doors and stated that it would be “a blow” for the Austrian team if its top runner leaves.
During the session, Checo was questioned on Verstappen’s ‘exit clause’, to which he replied by saying, “I think Max, as far as I know, has a contract with the team and is fully committed with the team.”
The Mexican was also asked about ‘how the dynamic [at Red Bull] might change if Verstappen leaves,’ to which Perez replied, “It would obviously be a blow for the team if Max were to leave.”
📰: Sergio Perez weighs in on Max Verstappen’s potential departure from Red Bull, acknowledging it would be a “blow” despite the team’s current strength. Verstappen’s future remains uncertain amid off-track turmoil and speculation linking him with other teams.#F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/9ZUST2I3Rn
— F1 Naija (@f1_naija) March 21, 2024
“I think the team is in a very strong position, with the results we’re currently having, the harmony that there is in the team, I think to achieve that it just takes a lot of years, probably,” he further added.
“Right now, the dynamic, everyone in the team is working really well together, the whole engineering group is really united. You can see that on track in how efficient we’ve been in the last years. I don’t see any reason to change it,” Perez concluded, explaining his reasons.
As touched on above, Perez has certainly given Verstappen the ‘near-perfect’ backing this season, as they both ran off with perfect ‘1-2 finishes’ in the first two Grand Prix races. Verstappen and his partner, Perez, will now look for a third ‘1-2 finish’ win at Albert Park this weekend at the 2024 Australian Grand Prix.
Will Verstappen really stay with Red Bull till the 2028 season? Or will he eventually join another team? Can Max and Perez pull off another ‘1-2 finish’ this weekend? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
