Helmut Marko breaks his silence on Max Verstappen potentially leaving Red Bull for Mercedes

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has finally given his take on rumors of Max Verstappen leaving the team for Mercedes at the end of the season. The Austrian claims that the contract is in place and the Dutch driver isn't going anywhere.

The rumors of Max Verstappen and Mercedes having conversations were first made public in the F1 Austrian GP by George Russell. Since then, Toto Wolff has also acknowledged the same.

The bigger shock came from reports from Italian publication Sky Italia that claimed Max Verstappen has consented to a move to Mercedes. Since then, the Dutch driver was questioned about his future on Thursday, July 3, but he opted against saying anything.

It does, however, appear that a lot of commotion is going on in the background. Max Verstappen had signed a contract with Red Bull until 2028. There are, however, a lot of performance clauses in the contract that could potentially help him carve his way out of the team.

The question of the Dutch driver's future was put to Helmut Marko by Kleine Zeitung, to which the Austrian had the same blunt response that Verstappen wasn't going anywhere. He said:

“He hasn’t signed and can’t do it at all. It’s just annoying now. The same questions keep coming up, we keep giving the same answers, because nothing has changed in the initial situation.”

Max Verstappen stays tight-lipped about his future

Max Verstappen was the center of attraction at Silverstone on Thursday as the media swarmed the driver for updates on his future. The driver has maintained in the past that he sees his future with Red Bull, but in Austria, for the first time, he was a bit noncommittal.

As expected though, the driver was not willing to divulge details, as he made it clear that he was not going to talk about his contract. He said:

“Like I said, nothing to add. Nothing has changed from my side. I think no one can say 100 per cent sure that they will be fully comfortable next year. There will be so many unknowns anyway for next year and the only thing that I have to do is drive whatever I have fast. I’m not speaking about my contract, to be honest. It’s a bit easier like that for everyone.”

The question of the Dutch driver's future also ties in with the future of Mercedes driver George Russell. The British driver is expecting a contract extension, but there is no official update on it.

Any team principal would accommodate a Max Verstappen in their team if the opportunity arose, and it would be interesting to see how Toto Wolff will navigate the situation he finds himself in as he balances both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli's careers.