Red Bull tried to make Max Verstappen’s exit clause disappear before he ever had the chance to use it. Their price: €8 million, and his answer was no.
The offer, reported by German outlet F1-Insider and picked up by international motorsport press, was presented in the weeks before the British Grand Prix.
Red Bull GmbH leadership went to Verstappen’s management with a proposition to buy out the clause outright, locking the four-time world champion in through 2028. Verstappen turned it down.
What the clause actually does
The escape route was written into the contract by Verstappen’s manager, Raymond Vermeulen.
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It gives Verstappen the right to walk away for 2027 if he is not inside the top two of the drivers’ championship when Formula 1 breaks for the summer after the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.
That threshold is now mathematically out of reach. Verstappen’s DNF at Silverstone, where his rear wing failed on lap 48 of 52, left him on 76 points.
Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli leads the championship on 179 points, teammate George Russell sits second on 154, and Lewis Hamilton is third on 147. The best Verstappen can finish before the break is fourth.
Widespread reports put the formal notification deadline in October.
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Verstappen won’t talk, his manager will
Verstappen has refused to engage with the subject publicly.
Asked directly about his future after Silverstone, he told reporters, “I’m not going to say anything about that. It’s not fair to say anything about that also right now.”
He was more forthcoming about the state of the car.
“It would be a very zen person to be optimistic at the moment with what happened again this weekend,” he said.
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“I’m sorry, but it’s just like that. I need a few days, I think, to reset and try again.”
Vermeulen defended the arrangement.
“We have a contract until 2028. Of course there are exit clauses; there always have been. But we’ve never exercised one,” the manager said.
“We want to continue on this path with Red Bull and for Max to end his career here, but, of course, with the chance to win.”
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Hungary, then a decision
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has publicly insisted the team can rebuild around Verstappen with a competitive car and stronger engineering.
That message has to compete with the reality of a car that has now failed twice in eight days, and a champion sitting seventh in the standings.
The €8 million offer tells its own story: Red Bull was willing to write a cheque simply to remove Verstappen’s right to leave, and the driver refused to sell it.
The Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring runs on Sunday. Verstappen has until October to decide.
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