The exit clause in Max Verstappen‘s contract is about to expire. According to multiple sources, the Dutchman will remain with Red Bull if he is in the top four of the drivers’ championship after the Austrian Grand Prix. If Verstappen leaves the race weekend in Spain with a lead of fifty points over Charles Leclerc, who is currently in fifth place, Red Bull is reportedly already certain that the world champion will be in a Red Bull seat in 2026.
Only three more race weekends, and Red Bull is completely certain that Max Verstappen will stay with the Austrians for the rest of the 2025 season and the entire 2026 season. According to Autosport, the exit clause in the Dutchman’s contract expires after the Austrian Grand Prix, as long as he is in the top four in the drivers’ championship. If Verstappen is still in the top four at the end of June, he can no longer make use of this ‘escape route’ in his contract. The current contract of the four-time world champion only expires in 2028.
Currently, Verstappen ranks third in the drivers’ championship, 57 points ahead of Charles Leclerc in fifth place. George Russell separates the two, sitting in fourth place. With a total of 136 points, Verstappen is 25 points behind leader Oscar Piastri, the same number of points a driver can earn for winning a race. If the Red Bull driver maintains a 50-point lead over Leclerc after the race weekend in Spain, it would essentially secure Red Bull’s position, and reportedly, the exit clause would no longer be valid.
Mercedes
The upcoming deadline will put an end to the flood of rumors about Verstappen’s future. The world champion was previously linked to Aston Martin and Mercedes, but after the Austrian Grand Prix, these two teams seem to have temporarily shelved their ambitions.
Meanwhile, Mercedes is also engaged in contract negotiations with George Russell. According to team boss Toto Wolff, these negotiations with the British driver will not take long. Russell performed well at the start of the season, finishing in the top five of a race six times. “George and I are completely aligned on how this will go,” the Austrian declared in Monaco. “There’s no such thing as unnecessarily dragging this out, because that’s not what we do.”
