Helmut Marko Expects Max Verstappen to Honor His $260,000,000 Contract With Red Bull Amidst Retirement Scare

Srijon Jana | 18/07/2023
Helmut Marko Expects Max Verstappen to Honor His $260,000,000 Contract With Red Bull Amidst Retirement Scare

Max Verstappen has taken the F1 world by storm with his constant comments on a possible retirement from the sport. Amidst the speculations that Verstappen might choose not to continue in F1, Red Bull’s chief advisor Dr. Helmut Marko expects the two-time world champion to honor his $260,000,000 contract and stay with Red Bull at least till 2028.

Verstappen often talks about giving up racing in Formula 1. Currently, he is the most dominant driver in F1 and is well on his way to winning his third world championship. Still, he talks about leaving the sport in the near future, mainly because of non-sporting reasons.

Red Bull has invested a lot of time and money on Verstappen over the years, so if the Dutchman does decide to leave, it’ll be a huge blow. Even though he is paying Red Bull back for their years of investment, the Austrian team would have wanted the partnership to go on for years to come.

Verstappen signed a five-year contract renewal with Red Bull at the start of the 2022 season. This will come into effect once the previous deal expires at the end of 2023 and will keep Verstappen at Red Bull till 2028. However, Verstappen has given various reasons why he might not want to continue in Formula 1 till then.

Max Verstappen has quite a few problems with Formula 1

Max Verstappen recently commented on how the ever-expanding F1 calendar is something that is bothering him. Verstappen believes that the 24-race-long calendar is too demanding for drivers and it is something that has forced him to contemplate leaving F1.

Verstappen has also spoken at length about the new regulations that are scheduled to come into effect in 2026. The 25-year-old believes that F1 will become just a competition of engines when the new regulations come into play. This might also play a role in Verstappen’s retirement thoughts.


As per Formule1 Nieuws, Helmut Marko has acknowledged Verstappen’s concerns about how the regulations may have a huge impact on the sport. But Marko is also hoping that despite all of Verstappen’s problems with F1, he will honor the current contract he has with Red Bull and continue with them until at least 2028.

Verstappen’s diverse future plans

Max Verstappen has made it clear that he does not want to waste his peak racing years by competing just in Formula 1. He has spoken a lot about his desire to explore other disciplines of motorsports that range from endurance racing to sim racing.

Verstappen has spoken about wanting to participate in the 24 hours of Le Mans alongside his father Jos. He has also dropped hints about starting his own sim racing team, something that he has already started working on with his Verstappen.com racing team.

It is evident that Verstappen is the main reason behind Red Bull’s current domination. This becomes clear when his performance gap to teammate Sergio Perez is taken into consideration. The Dutchman is 99 points ahead of Perez in the standings after 10 rounds. Therefore, Red Bull would want to keep Verstappen racing for them as long as they possibly can.

Post Edited By: Somin Bhattacharjee
Helmut Marko Max Verstappen Red Bull

About the author

Srijon Jana

Srijon Jana is a Formula 1 writer at The SportsRush. As a medical undergrad with a passion for motorsports, Srijon loves juggling between cadavers and cars with ease. He started watching F1 when he was only 11, and the beautiful cars grabbed his interest. Even now, he religiously follows all the Grands Prix, and when he is not gushing over Charles Leclerc, he likes to dabble in football as well. He is a college quizzer with several state-level and national-level accolades. He is a proud Ferrari fan, and loves to pass his free time reading, watching movies, and spending some quality time with his friends and family.

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