One of the two most talked about instances from the 2024 Hungarian GP was Max Verstappen’s back-and-forth with his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase. However, after one point even Lambiase gave it back as good as he got. Now, this may become a regular scenario for Verstappen as Red Bull may not coddle him anymore, according to former Haas boss Guenther Steiner.
Steiner discussed about Red Bull being under immense pressure on The Red Flag Podcast. The Austrian team has been unable to cope with the sudden fall after enjoying complete dominance for the last two years. Amid all this, Verstappen’s future was also in doubt at the start of this year.
However, Steiner pointed out Red Bull’s announcement of the Dutchman’s lock-in period till 2026. The American-Italian said, “They announced yesterday that the door is closed now, so he cannot leave until the end of ’26. You know, they announced that one, he cannot go anywhere”.
“He cannot go to Mercedes the earliest it would be for 27. So maybe you could see that the race engineers know that and said, ‘no, I just insult him back. You know, I don’t have to be nice with him anymore. He needs to stay here anyway'”.
Mercedes started its attempts to poach Verstappen as soon as Lewis Hamilton announced his decision to move to Ferrari. This is why everyone on the Austrian team tried to do everything in their power to make him stay. Some reports also say that Sergio Perez got the contract extension to keep the Dutchman happy and unthreatened in the team.
Although, it was Helmut Marko’s contract length confirmation that has seemingly ascertained Verstappen’s stay. Marko is going to stay at the Milton Keynes outfit at least until the end of 2026. So, it checks out with Red Bull claiming that the three-time champion is not going to Mercedes till 2026.
Mercedes’ courting of Max Verstappen has been a common theme of #F1 2024 – but the changing fortunes at Mercedes and Red Bull have made it far more realistic.
And it’s time Mercedes took full advantage, says Samarth Kanal: https://t.co/JbJBSoYYiAhttps://t.co/JbJBSoYYiA
— The Race (@wearetherace) July 24, 2024
Now, as times get tough and no sword of early exit over their heads, Red Bull will want Verstappen to be calmer and more compliant. A repeat of his adamance from the 2022 Brazilian GP seems highly unlikely. However, the team also wouldn’t want to see him make race-ending moves to gain one position as the championship battle heats up.
