Verstappen divides the Red Bull bosses: Mateschitz jr wants to send him away in the face of non-renewal, Mintzlaff is more understanding

High tension in Red Bull From the smiles for second place at home at the Red Bull Ring to the post-GP trial of Jos Verstappen and Raymond Vermeulen to the unfortunate Laurent Mekies in the space of a week. Max Verstappen achieved an excellent second place in Austria, then at Silverstone he spent the weekend ranting on the radio until sadly crashing into the gravel at Stowe due to what appears to have been a second rear wing problem in eight days (different inconveniences). Max Verstappen left Silverstone angry saying he just wanted to go home so as not to think about F1. The arithmetic after the British GP has issued the verdict that will free Verstappen from the contract that binds him to Red Bull in the aftermath of the Hungarian GP. Since mathematically he cannot move into second position in the Drivers’ World Championship at the start of the summer break, Verstappen can potentially reach an agreement with another team from Monday 27 July. For this reason Verstappen and his entourage were the protagonists of a meeting in Austria in which the Red Bull leaders put forward the proposal to ‘buy’ the clause in Verstappen’s possession to prevent the Dutchman from leaving, or essentially to confirm it and be able to plan the future also – if not above all – in terms of sponsorships with the Verstappen asset in the package. Verstappen and his entourage did not open up to the possibility of depriving themselves of the clause and this attitude, according to what was reported by the De Limburger newspaper and confirmed by the planetf1.com newspaper, would have sent Mark Mateschitz, the son of the founder Dietrich, into a rage. Mateschitz junior was ready to immediately cut ties with Max Verstappen in the face of the Dutchman’s reticence, but CEO Oliver Mintzlaff thinks differently and would like to continue the relationship with Verstappen until 2030. So the Austrian bosses had a different reaction, Mateschitz junior more fumantic, Mintzlaff more calm. Mintzlaff is therefore ready to await Verstappen’s possible moves, the point is that there seem to be no alternatives for Verstappen other than a sabbatical or even retirement from F1. The only competitive seat available is the Red Bull one and even if a steering wheel were to become free in McLaren Verstappen would still be ‘dependent’ on a Mercedes customer power unit.

Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News

2026-07-07 15:20:00