Verstappen signs surprise new Red Bull deal
Max Verstappen has extended his contract Red Bull Racing and will remain at the Formula 1 team until the end of the 2030 season.
The four-time champion and his future with the team has been the subject of speculation for much of the past season and a half, most prominently amid interest from Mercedes about securing his services - which were headed off last year by performance-related clauses in his contract - and this year in the wake of Verstappen's reaction to the new F1 ruleset.
The fabric of the team that Verstappen has been with for the past decade has also changed significantly in recent years, with key figures such as Helmut Marko - who was pivotal in making Verstappen a Red Bull junior before his graduation to F1 - Adrian Newey and Christian Horner all gone.
His race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase has also agreed to join McLaren "no later than 2028".
But Verstappen has now been announced at staying with Red Bull for the next four seasons, on the eve of his home Dutch Grand Prix - the last planned edition of the race at this time.
His current contract, announced in 2022, ran until 2028 with those aforementioned performance-related clauses, so this new arrangement essentially represents a two-year extension to that.
Red Bull said it was "immensely proud" to announce Verstappen's extended stay, calling it "one of the most successful and defining partnerships in F1 history".
It also called him a "defining part" of the team's "history, identity and success".
Verstappen was quoted as saying he was "really pleased with the contract extension" and thanked Red Bull itself, the racing team and team principal Laurent Mekies - who succeeded Horner last July - "for the trust they put in me".
He said he was "excited to keep working together with everyone to get back to the top again", amid a mixed start to the new rules era by Red Bull - a team he described as "like a second family for me" where "I feel very at home"
"Getting to work with Laurent now for over a year has also been great, I see a clear vision he has for the team," Verstappen added. "Everyone in Milton Keynes believes in what we are building and I am looking forward to the next chapter, fighting for more victories and competing for championships as we continue to shape the future of this team.
"To make this announcement during the last Grand Prix at Zandvoort is a great moment for me as well. Hopefully we can give the fans a special send-off for the final race."
Mekies said retaining Verstappen was "fantastic news for everyone at Red Bull, Oracle Red Bull Racing, as well as F1 and motorsport as a whole".
"His impact on our team and on Red Bull’s motorsport story has been transformational, and he has been fundamental to everything we have accomplished together," Mekies added.
"The decision to continue our journey together is rooted in the trust Max and the team have built over many years, as well as Max’s confidence in our people, our culture and our vision for the future."
