With Max Verstappen's exit clause hanging over the team, Red Bull principal Laurent Mekies insists the surest way to settle his future is simple: build a faster car and reclaim the final few tenths — even as he admits that other star drivers are already calling.
Key takeaways
- Verstappen's deal runs to 2028 but a performance clause could free him at season's end.
- He reportedly has until October to trigger any break in the contract.
- Mekies says interest "works in both directions" — top drivers are calling Red Bull too.
- The team believes closing the last two or three tenths of pace will keep Max on board.
As Formula 1 heads to Hungary for its last outing before the summer shutdown, the biggest question in the paddock has little to do with the race itself. It is whether Max Verstappen will still be a Red Bull driver in 2027. The four-time champion is contracted through 2028, but performance-based clauses could open an exit door at the end of the current campaign — and he is understood to have until October to tell the team if he intends to walk through it.
Team boss Laurent Mekies is unruffled by the noise. His message is blunt: the speculation dies the moment the car is quick enough. "The best way to close the subject is to go and get these last two or three tenths, and that's what everyone is focused on," he told Sky Sports F1.
A market that swings both ways
Verstappen's options elsewhere look limited for now. His camp was reported to have held talks with McLaren last month, only for Zak Brown to shut the door with a firm reminder that he already has Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locked in. With Mercedes and Ferrari's line-ups also tied down, a short-term switch is far from straightforward — should Verstappen even decide to remain in the sport into 2027.
Pressed on whether rival drivers had been sounding out Red Bull in return, Mekies made no attempt to hide it.
"It's working in both directions. It's completely natural that Max gets called by everyone, because he's the best driver in the world — and equally, if you're a top team, you're going to get calls from a lot of good drivers too. Is it a distraction? Not really."
— Laurent Mekies, Red Bull team principal
The Frenchman was equally clear about the pairing he wants to protect. Alongside Verstappen, he pointed to the rapid rise of Isack Hadjar, calling the duo "the ideal pairing" and insisting the team is determined to keep it intact.
From a second off the pace to fine margins
Red Bull's confidence is rooted in genuine progress. After starting the new regulations era more than a second adrift, a major upgrade to the RB22 at the Austrian Grand Prix has sharpened the package — Verstappen has since taken two podiums in three races, the exception being a frustrating Silverstone where a rear-wing fault pitched him into a late spin.
Hadjar, meanwhile, continues to impress, carving through from 21st on the grid to sixth in Belgium to stretch his top-six streak to six straight races.
"We started the season more than a second off the pace, and honestly we shouldn't be surprised by that after such a late title fight last year and the huge challenge of the new power unit. We were more than a second away — now we're talking about the last two or three tenths. That's where the focus is."
— Laurent Mekies
Transition, but a single objective
All of this comes against a backdrop of upheaval. Red Bull have lost several architects of their title-winning years, and Verstappen's long-time race engineer and close ally Gianpiero Lambiase is set to join McLaren by 2028 at the latest. Yet Mekies argues the team's identity has never been simpler.
"It's more simple than it seems, because ultimately it's only about speed," he said. "Red Bull only have one objective — to win — and that's exactly the same objective Max has. It's the same group of people who pulled off that incredible turnaround last year and clawed back nearly a second on our rivals. Now we're into the hardcore part, the last few tenths, the hardest ones to find. What we have to do is keep working as a united group."
Formula 1 now heads straight to Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix, the final stop before the mid-season break — and, quite possibly, another chapter in a driver-market story that shows no sign of quietening down.
