Retaining Max Verstappen May Be ‘Difficult’ – Marko

Red Bull will find it “difficult” to keep Max Verstappen if the team can’t reclaim its old winning ways.

That’s the frank admission of advisor Dr Helmut Marko, after McLaren CEO Zak Brown admitted to phoning Verstappen’s management whilst predicting a 2026 move to Mercedes for the quadruple world champion.

“Apparently he (Brown) called one of our drivers last week,” team boss Christian Horner told Viaplay in Shanghai.

“If he is so happy with his own drivers, why would he call one of ours?”

Marko dismissed Brown’s admissions as the usual Formula 1 “shenanigans”, while Horner called it “hot air”.

Brown, though, also recalls that Verstappen has been linked with a move to Aston Martin, reuniting with Red Bull’s recently-departed design genius, Adrian Newey.

Marko confirms that Verstappen’s only goal is to win.

“Max wants a can that can always win,” said the 81-year-old. “If we can’t offer him that, there are always performance clauses, so it would be difficult.

“But it’s only the second race of the season,” Marko told Sky Deutschland. “The situation isn’t as dire as Zak would like to see it.”

It is clear, however, that Verstappen is not happy with the current situation, having qualified ahead of Oscar Piastri for the sprint but then falling behind late in the race with tyre wear.

“I didn’t expect anything else,” the 27-year-old told Viaplay. “This is of course not what you want, but it is the reality.”