Max Verstappen's contractual escape route has spent a year as a talking point. Now it is a genuine choice. The Red Bull deal he signed in 2022, valid until the close of 2028, includes a performance trigger: if he is not inside the top two of the standings by the summer shutdown, he is free to leave. In seventh, and miles behind the flying Kimi Antonelli, he clears that bar with room to spare. Across the break, the option is his to take.
Having the clause and pulling it are not the same thing, and Verstappen's manager Raymond Vermeulen made sure everyone knew it. "A lot is being written," he told Austrian outlet OE24, "but the truth is that Max wants to finish his stint at Red Bull. He has a contract through 2028 and wants to see it out." The release mechanism, he added, changes nothing: "The fact that this clause exists doesn't mean we'll use it. We could have done so in recent years as well, but we didn't."
Vermeulen also killed off July's biggest rumour - a snapped meeting in Amsterdam involving himself, Jos Verstappen and ex-Red Bull man Helmut Marko. "That was a private appointment that had been planned for a long time," he said. "Moreover, Max's sister got married." With the car improving - Verstappen won last time out at Spa - he framed his man as content to stay: "Probably not at Spa, but in Budapest and Zandvoort the chances are increasing."
Team principal Laurent Mekies hears the same message, with a caveat. Verstappen "has made clear to us that he wants to continue with the team," Mekies said, but he is under no illusions that the loyalty comes free - his driver "needs a fast car to be happy." The fix, in his telling, is engineering, not spin.
Marko, out of his Red Bull post since the end of 2025 but still tight with the Verstappen family, played it studiously neutral on 2027. "No idea. I am not in charge anymore," he shrugged. Asked whether a Red Bull revival might tip the balance, he passed it up the chain: "That's also not my business. You have to ask Laurent."
What makes the whole thing close to academic is that the exits are shutting. Mercedes has locked in George Russell and Kimi Antonelli for 2027, Toto Wolff calling Verstappen off his radar, while Oscar Piastri has ruled out sharing McLaren's garage with him. A release clause counts for little without a top seat waiting on the far side.
The chorus is unanimous for now: the clause is open, the plan is to stay, and - if Vermeulen is right - Verstappen may settle it before the paddock empties for August.
