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Helmut Marko has emerged as the key figure if Max Verstappen wants to leave Red Bull. Much has been made about what has been going on at the Austrian team this year.
At the start of the season, we had an internal investigation against Christian Horner. Once the investigation ended, we had Max Verstappen's father, Jos Verstappen, making comments about Christian Horner. We've even had reports claiming Helmut Marko's position on the team was at risk during the race weekend in Jeddah.
Amidst all this, Max Verstappen has come out in the open and pledged his loyalty towards Helmut Marko. When Adrian Newey's departure was announced, one of the first rumors that came out was Max having a meeting with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
With Jos Verstappen being the first to comment on Newey's departure, rumors intensified that Max Verstappen could be next in line to leave the team. There were even reports of a rumored £150 million per year contract offered to the Red Bull driver.
While these reports continue to run through the media cycle, Max Verstappen has denied any such thing and reinforced his belief in Red Bull. At the same time, BBC is reporting that should Max decide to leave Red Bull, Helmut Marko will be the first to pull the trigger.
According to Max Verstappen's contract, if Helmut Marko leaves the team, the driver is free to break the contract. According to BBC, the Austrian, on his part, has made it clear that he would facilitate that in support of the driver.
Mercedes boss continues his pursuit of Max Verstappen
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, on the other hand, has continued his public pursuit of Verstappen. Even after being told off by Red Bull MD Oliver Mintzlaff, Toto said that the decision of the second driver is something for which Mercedes is willing to wait for a while. Talking to Sky Sports, Wolff said,
"There's always plenty of meetings. I can't really say about the second driver [at Mercedes]. I think we've talked about the possibilities. I want to be fair to these guys and not make it look like we are playing chess with humans, because we are not doing that."
He added,
"I think we want to take our time, see where Max's thinking goes, and at the same time, monitor the other drivers. Carlos [Sainz] was very strong in Miami again and that's why we are a little bit on an observation mode at the moment."
Verstappen's future has become a bone of contention, and one of the reasons behind it is his father Jos Verstappen's comments as well as the multiple conflicting reports that indicate something could happen when it comes to the driver leaving the team.
