Fresh Helmut Marko commitment is bad news for Mercedes’ pursuit of Max Verstappen

Helmut Marko has confirmed his commitment to Red Bull in a move that strengthens the F1 team’s grip on Max Verstappen.

Crash.net has learned that the 81-year-old Austrian has re-affirmed his future at Red Bull. While Marko has not signed a new contract, he has confirmed he will see out his existing deal which runs through to the end of 2026.

This is significant as it effectively removes the possibility of Verstappen leaving before his own contract expires at the end of 2028, marking a blow to Red Bull's rivals.

Mercedes have been publicly courting Verstappen for months, with Toto Wolff admitting he would “love” to sign the three-time world champion as the Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton’s replacement.

On Saturday at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Wolff suggested that Mercedes were waiting for their attempt to lure Verstappen to be completely ruled out before committing to a driver decision for 2025.

“There is something instinctive that tells me ‘Don’t rush’ and I can’t even tell you what it is,” a smiling Wolff told Sky Sports F1.

That prompted former Mercedes driver turned pundit Nico Rosberg to claim “that can only be a certain Max Verstappen”, to which Wolff responded: “I had a really good relationship with a driver called Nico Rosberg, who was at the peak of his doing, won a championship, and then he said ‘I don’t want this anymore’ so, you know, things can happen!”

Verstappen has always maintained he has no intention of leaving Red Bull despite his future being brought into the spotlight following the controversy surrounding team principal Christian Horner at the start of the season.

Around this time it emerged Verstappen had an exit clause in his contract that would enable him to leave Red Bull in the event Marko also departed.

This appeared to be a real possibility in March when Marko faced an internal investigation amid the scandal around Horner.

Verstappen came close to threatening to leave Red Bull ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix when he insisted that Marko “has to stay”, adding “my loyalty to [Marko] is very big”.

Following crunch talks with Red Bull chief executive officer Oliver Mintzlaff, Marko confirmed he would be staying at the team. 

Now, after Marko's new commitment to Red Bull in Hungary, the team are set to avoid losing F1's standout driver, while Mercedes must look elsewhere to replace Hamilton.