Red Bull: No exit clause in Verstappen’s F1 contract relating to Honda

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner insists there is no exit clause in Max Verstappen’s contract that is linked to Honda leaving Formula 1.

Over the winter, Verstappen agreed a new deal that saw him commit his future to Red Bull until the end of 2023 with the hope of challenging Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton for world championships.

Red Bull has once again found itself lagging behind Mercedes in 2020 despite some encouraging gains made by Honda over the last two years.

Horner has already moved to quash suggestions that Verstappen has an exit clause in his contract that would enable him to leave Red Bull at the end of the season if the team failed to fight for titles, and the shock announcement of Honda’s decision to quit F1 has fuelled yet more speculation over the Dutchman’s future.

But speaking to Red Bull’s ServusTV, Horner dismissed talk of Verstappen having an engine-related clause he could trigger which is linked to Honda leaving the sport.

"There is no such clause in his contract," Horner said.

"The contracts between the driver and the team are private, but there is definitely no engine-related clause in Max's contract.

"He is competitive. He feels very comfortable in the team and believes strongly in the Honda program.

"I think he also sees that Honda has brought forward the engine from 2022 to 2021. That is encouraging, of course.

"So we will take another step forward next year. He's excited about this, and he still has a long way to go until 2022."

Speaking about Honda's decision to quit F1, Verstappen said: "It is of course a shame that Honda are leaving Formula 1, especially as we have such a good relationship and we really see the dedication of the people involved in the project which has always been very important for me.

"In terms of what that means at the moment and what we are focused on then nothing has changed. We still have the rest of this season and next season to focus on together and we are still trying to be on the podium every single race, that’s a good target for us. Making sure that we maximise all the results that we can all the time." 

Under F1’s current regulations, Renault would have an obligation to supply Red Bull and its sister squad AlphaTauri with power units if both teams have no alternative for 2022 and beyond.