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Max Verstappen reportedly cannot exercise his exit clause with Red Bull for 2026 if he finds himself in the top four of championship standings by the end of the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix. However, a report from De Telegraaf has now claimed that those reports are false and nonsense.
Earlier this week, De Telegraaf stated that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is still interested in signing Verstappen, though he is keeping his feet grounded due to the Dutch driver's loyalty to Red Bull.
Once the rumors surfaced, Motorsport reported that the alleged exit clause in Verstappen's present contract with the Bulls had expired. Apparently, the four-time world champion can only trigger the exit clause if he is outside of the top four of championship standings by the end of the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix, which will take place on June 29.
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Currently, he is placed P3 with 136 points, with George Russell at P4 with 99 points. Hence, the likelihood of Verstappen falling out of the top four by the end of June is slim.
However, renowned motorsport journalist Erik van Haren has refuted these conjectures. In his report published on De Telegraaf, Haren claimed that rumors of Max Verstappen's exit clause's expiry are nonsense.
"Stories that Verstappen can no longer leave if he is in the top 4 after the Austrian Grand Prix at the end of June can be dismissed as nonsense," Haren wrote.
Not only that, Erik van Haren reported that Wolff is skeptical of Mercedes' chances of landing Verstappen in the near future. As for the four-time world champion, he is reportedly not in a hurry to fix his future in Formula 1.
He is currently contracted with Red Bull until 2028, and despite constant speculations, he remains committed to adhering to this existing deal.
Helmut Marko denies exit clause limitation on Max Verstappen's contract
Red Bull senior motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has denied rumors of Max Verstappen's exit clause expiring by the end of the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix. He stated that though an exit clause exists in his deal, the speculations around expiry are false.
Talking to Bild, he said (via motorsport.nextgen):
"The report is nonsense because it’s wrong. There is a clause, but it’s contractual and therefore confidential."
Marko added that Red Bull cannot be complacent and must ensure Verstappen has no reason to leave before 2028:
"Then it would get complicated. Didi Mateschitz always said that you shouldn’t stop people from leaving. We just have to make sure he has no reason to want to."
Max Verstappen earlier said that the coming weeks are important for his future. However, since then, he won in Imola and kept his fifth title quest alive. For now, the Dutchman is yet to comment on the growing conjectures around his contract.
