Button: “Verstappen’s manager is right to explore the market, it’s not a given that all contracts are ‘iron’”

The Dutchman animates the drivers’ market Max Verstappen has lost patience. The four-time world champion has achieved two podiums and a series of bitter disappointments in these first nine races of 2026. The latest was the technical knockout at Silverstone which sent him into the gravel at the Stowe corner. The Red Bull RB22 does not satisfy the Dutchman at all who, according to the latest rumors, is also being ‘isolated’ by Red Bull given that he has not yet ‘sworn loyalty’ to the Milton Keynes team whose ownership has tried to ‘buy’ the exit clause that Verstappen will be able to activate in the aftermath of the Hungarian GP which will in no way see him second in the Drivers’ World Championship, the only condition for not making this exit clause valid. At the end of the British GP, the images of the ‘debriefing’ between Laurent Mekies and the Jos Verstappen-Raymond Vermeulen axis went around the world and it is easy to imagine what the ‘tones’ of the meeting were given that Max spent the weekend complaining on the radio also about the fact that Red Bull did not listen to his indications in terms of set-up. According to Jenson Button, manager Raymond Vermeulen is doing very well in exploring the market: “His manager is right to talk to other teams and I’m sure that opportunities will arise – the 2009 world champion said to Sky Sports UK – all the drivers seem to be under contract, but who knows what value those contracts have. Maybe not all of them are ‘iron'”.

Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News

2026-07-08 08:00:00