“We will have talks with Max”– Red Bull boss reveals Max Verstappen salary is already ‘close to limit’ ahead of new contract extension talks

Red Bull boss Helmut Marko claims that his team is approaching the representatives of Max Verstappen over new contract negotiations.

Max Verstappen, the prodigy Red Bull, grabbed with both hands, and now, they benefitted from that investment after winning a drivers’ championship in eight years.

After winning the title, Verstappen said on the radio: “Can we do it for the next 10-15 years”. So it is clear that he wants to stay with the team for a long time.

Meanwhile, Christian Horner hopes to have the services of Verstappen for many years to come. Obviously, after a pretty successful year, there is a mutual affection.

Moreover, Red Bull doesn’t need to worry right now, as Verstappen lucrative deal of $25million per annum runs till 2023. Moreover, he has enticing bonus clauses, which give him $1million each for a race win, and a whopping $10million for the title win.

Yet, Red Bull seems to secure his services for a longer period, and that’s why an opening round of negotiations may happen anytime soon ahead of the new season.

Also read: British media points hypocrisy of Max Verstappen for his “Lewis Hamilton had luck to win 7 world titles” comment

Max Verstappen is already ‘close to the limit’ to what Red Bull can pay

However, there is a piece of bad news given by the Red Bull chief Helmut Marko. While he agrees that there will be talks with Verstappen’s entourage over his wages. He claims that the Milton-Keynes-based team is already close to what they can manage to pay Verstappen.

Meanwhile, he also revealed that there had been no initial talks with the Dutchman’s agent Raymond Vermeulen. That is because Vermeulen’s son was at the 24-hour race in Dubai [in mid-January] together with Jos Verstappen.

“We will have talks with Max in the next few weeks,” said Marko to Austrian magazine Autorevue. “His manager [Raymond Vermeulen] was difficult to contact because his son was at the 24-hour race in Dubai [in mid-January] together with Jos [Verstappen].”

With Lewis Hamilton already earning around $30-40million as base salary with Mercedes, Verstappen might have to settle with a bit less after his new contract extension.

“With Verstappen, we are already close to this limit. There will be an end at some point.”

Also read: Christian Horner reveals how Red Bull doyen wasn’t concerned with questionable Abu Dhabi GP end that gave Max Verstappen his first title