Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has revealed Max Verstappen will be able to a🦩ctivate an exit clause in his contract in the summer break, should he decide to leave the squad in the wake of its flagging form in Formula 1.

Although Red Bull has locked in 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Verstappen until the end of th🐬e 2028 season, the energy drinks giant has revealed on multiple occasions that the Dutchman can contractually leave earlier if the team’s performance falls below a certain threshold.

Such performance clauses are baked into mode꧂rn-day Fꦇ1 contracts and work both ways; even a team can drop their driver due to a lack of results.

With Red Bull unable to take the fight to McLaren at the star🐼t of the 2025 season, and the RB21 also proving to be an incredibly difficult car to drive like its predecessor, there h🎀as been intense speculation about four-time F1 champion Verstappen’s future at the team.

But Maﷺrko, who plucked Verstappen from European F3 and placed him in F1 when he was just 17 years old, said the exit clause is not somethinᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚg he is concerned about so early in the year.

“Upgrades are needed for Max to win his fifth world title,” Marko told Formel1.de. “That is our big goal and the whole team is working hard o꧅n it.

“Of courseౠ every top driver has an exit clause if performance is not good. But they are all tuned differently.

“That is not a topic at the moment.”

Asked if the summer break in August will be the earliest opportunity for Verstappen to activate the clause and ✅🔜potentially leave the team as early as 2026, he said: “Yes, that’s the time window.

“But please, we are third 🌳in the drivers’ championship with a def𝓀icit of eight points. The summer break is still a long way off.”

It’s unclear what criteria Red Bull needs to meet to maintain its grip on Verstappen, amid rumours linking him to 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Aston Martin, 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Mercedes and even Alpine.

According to various reports, the performance/exit clause could stipulate that Red Bull needs to provide Vꦡerstappen a winning car, or ensure that he finishes inside the top three in the championship.

Currently, Verstappen sits only behind McLaren duo 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lando Norris and 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Oscar Piastri in the standings,ꦇ having score🌸d a shock victory from pole position in the Japanese Grand Prix earlier this month.