Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Max Verstappen, Formula 1, Red Bull Racing
Ryan Smart
Max Verstappen's representatives have responded to reports that Aston Martin are preparing a contract offer worth $1 billion to sign him from Red Bull.
Verstappen, the four-time reigning world champion, has a contract with Red Bull until the end of the 2028 season.
The initial seven-year contract that he signed at the beginning of 2022 is believed to be the longest ever agreed in F1 history.
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At the time, Red Bull had the fastest car on the grid, and that trend continued into 2023 when Verstappen won 19 of the 22 races.
But during a tumultuous 2024, which saw the team lose its chief technical officer Adrian Newey and be caught up on pace by Ferrari and McLaren, Verstappen won just two races from race 10 onwards but still secured his fourth world title.
On Thursday, the Daily Mail reported that Aston Martin had told potential sponsors that the team would be lining up a move for the Dutchman, which would see him reunite with Newey at his new team.
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They claim that a 'close lieutenant' of Lawrence Stroll, the Aston Martin owner, has made pitches to possible investors in which he states that Verstappen would be joining the team.
Aston Martin denied the claims but Verstappen's management have struck a different tone.
After being asked to comment on the reports by GP Blog, his representative is said to have simply stated: "That's nice."
The Mail also report that Aston Martin have been in 'casual contact' with Verstappen's representatives, which include his father Jos.
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The older Verstappen technically drove for an earlier incarnation of Aston Martin when it was the Minardi team, which underwent several name and ownership changes before becoming Force India from the beginning of the 2008 season.
Stroll bought out Force India when the team entered administration in 2019 and renamed it Racing Point, before the team commercially rebranded to Aston Martin for 2021 and signed Sebastian Vettel to drive alongside the owner's son Lance Stroll, who remains with the team.