Max Verstappen: Red Bull driver responds to Helmut Marko remarks suggesting ‘concern’ over his future at team

Max Verstappen says his focus is on helping to improve Red Bull’s car as he said he did not know why Helmut Marko suggested he had “great concern” about the world champion’s future at the team.

Speculation around Verstappen’s future resurfaced this week when team advisor Marko, speaking to Sky in Germany after Red Bull’s struggle in last Sunday’s Bahrain GP where the Dutchman finished sixth, said he was concerned that the four-time champion could leave unless they managed to improve their car.

Verstappen’s Red Bull contract runs for another three years to the end of 2028 but is widely believed to contain performance clauses that could theoretically allow an earlier departure in certain circumstances should he wish.

But asked about what lay behind Marko’s comments in Thursday’s Drivers’ Press Conference ahead of this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Verstappen said: “I don’t know, to be honest. I just keep working, keep trying to improve the car.

“Bahrain wasn’t a great weekend for us. I think we were all pretty disappointed with that. We just keep on trying to improve the car, come up with new ideas to try on the car. The competition is tough. That’s how I go about my weeks, just trying to improve the situation.”

And in a playful response when asked if he was therefore not thinking about leaving Red Bull, Verstappen responded: “Just focus on commentating, I’ll focus on driving, and then we don’t need to think about any other scenarios.”

Verstappen, who has regularly been linked with Mercedes and Aston Martin over the past 12 months, added about the speculation: “A lot of people are talking about it, except me.

“I just want to focus on my car, work with the people in the team. That’s the only thing that I’m thinking about in F1 at the moment. I’m very relaxed.”

‘We all care’ – Verstappen on his manager’s tense exchange with Marko

Verstappen also addressed why his manager, Raymond Vermeulen, had been seen in heated discussion with Marko in the Red Bull garage after the Bahrain race.

“To my knowledge, I think they were having just a conversation about everything, which I think is allowed,” said Verstappen.

“Now, if someone speaks up on it, people can always see it in their own way, how people are discussing things.

“I think we were all left frustrated with the result and the things that went wrong during the race. And I think that’s what my manager Raymond and Helmut spoke about, and even Christian [Horner] came along as well, so they all had a conversation.

“I think that should be allowed. We all care, at the end of the day. We care about the team, we care about the people, we care about results. I think that’s quite normal.”

Verstappen and Red Bull experienced a tumultuous weekend in Saudi Arabia on F1’s visit to the country last season when the Dutchman called his own future at the team into question. Amid suggestions at the time that Marko was on the verge of leaving, Verstappen made clear that the continued presence of the veteran Austrian at the team was crucial for his own.

Thirteen months on and, asked on Thursday about the current state of the internal situation at Red Bull, Verstappen said: “I am happy, I’m just not very happy with our car. But that I think goes for everyone. We all want to be better. I think there is no secret about that. So that’s what we are trying to improve.”

He added: “I think we had really good chats in the last few weeks already with the people about the car. I think we’re all very much aligned, so we’re just trying to improve the situation.

“It doesn’t change anything. So just keep going.”

‘Still a very long road’ – Verstappen relaxed about title chances

Despite the off-track tension at the time, Verstappen ended up comfortably winning last year’s Jeddah race during the period when Red Bull remained F1’s quickest team.

McLaren have long since usurped them, with the form of Red Bull’s RB21 car fluctuating in the pack also containing Mercedes and Ferrari behind so far this season. But Verstappen is still just eight points adrift of Lando Norris in the early drivers’ standings, although Red Bull have nonetheless acknowledged they need to quickly improve their package to consistently fight for wins.

Asked if he could still fight for a record-equalling fifth successive world title if the car did not improve, Verstappen insisted: “I’m not thinking about that. I just go race by race. Hopefully it will be better than Bahrain. If we can be a bit in the middle of the two, I think we can already be happy with that, and we just move on.

“The rest is out of my hands anyway. At the moment, we are not the quickest, so then naturally it’s very tough to fight for a championship. But it’s a still very long road. Around this time last year, it was all looking great (for us), and we all know how the season ended up. I’m hopeful we can still improve things, and we’ll see what we get.”

Sky Sports F1’s Saudi Arabian GP Schedule

Friday April 18

10.50am: F2 Practice
12pm: F1 Academy Practice
2pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice One (session starts at 2.30pm)
3.55pm: F2 Qualifying
4.40pm: Team Bosses’ Press Conference
5.45pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice Two (session starts at 6pm)
7.25pm: F1 Academy Qualifying
8.10pm: The F1 Show

Saturday April 19

1.15pm: F1 Academy Race 1
2.05pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice Three (session starts at 2.30pm)*
4.10pm: F2 Sprint
5.10pm: Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying build-up
6pm: SAUDI ARABIAN GP QUALIFYING

Sunday April 20

1pm: F1 Academy Race 2
2.20pm: F2 Feature Race
4.30pm: Saudi Arabian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday
6pm: THE SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX*
8pm: Saudi Arabian GP reaction: Chequered flag

*Also live on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 completes its first triple-header of 2025 in Jeddah with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – No contract, cancel anytime

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