{"id":60012,"date":"2025-08-11T12:56:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T12:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/60012\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T12:56:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T12:56:09","slug":"max-verstappen-could-reconsider-his-decision-in-worrying-helmut-marko-admission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/60012\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen could ‘reconsider his decision’ in worrying Helmut Marko admission"},"content":{"rendered":"

Helmut Marko is convinced Max Verstappen has made the right decision to stay with Red Bull next season, as there\u2019s \u201cno evidence\u201d that Mercedes will come out on top in F1\u2019s new era.<\/p>\n

He can, of course, \u201calways reconsider\u201d if Red Bull<\/a> gets it horribly wrong.<\/p>\n

Max Verstappen \u2018can always reconsider his decision\u2019 says Helmut Marko<\/p>\n

Although Verstappen has a contract with Red Bull that runs until 2028, the driver\u2019s future has been one of the hot topics this season as he reportedly debated leaving Red Bull for Mercedes.<\/p>\n

There were several factors said to be in play, starting with last year\u2019s off-track drama as then-team principal Christian Horner was accused, and cleared, of inappropriate behaviour towards a staff member.<\/p>\n

That coincided with the team\u2019s fall from grace on the track as McLaren came to the fore while Red Bull also lost key personnel in Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley.<\/p>\n

2026 and its all-new regulations were also reportedly a consideration for the reigning World Champion.<\/p>\n

Next year, Formula 1 will undergo its biggest technical reset ever, changing not only the technical regulations but also the engine formula.<\/p>\n

Formula 1\u2019s season of change: F1 2026 explained<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 F1 2026: Confirmed teams and power unit suppliers for F1\u2019s huge regulation changes<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 F1 2026 tech analysed: The future of overtaking and biggest car advantage identified<\/a><\/p>\n

The last time Formula 1 ran new engines, Mercedes went on a seven-year winning run with Red Bull only catching up in year eight when Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton to the World title.<\/p>\n

So far the noise coming out of the Mercedes camp is that it is once again onto a winner. At Red Bull, it\u2019s a lot more uncertain as it creates its first F1 engine in conjunction with Ford.<\/p>\n

Verstappen finally put the rumours to rest at the Hungarian Grand Prix when he told the media, including PlanetF1.com, that \u201cyeah\u201d he will be a Red Bull driver next season.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me,\u201d he continued, \u201cI\u2019ve never really said anything about it because I was just focused on talking to the team about how we can improve our performance, future ideas for next year as well, and that\u2019s why I have nothing really to add ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think it\u2019s time to basically stop all the rumours and, for me, it\u2019s always been quite clear that I was staying anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

But while Marko is happy to have that confirmation out there, he never believed there was the possibility that Verstappen would walk away.<\/p>\n

\u201cMax is a very important part of our team,\u201d Marko told F1-Insider.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has achieved all his successes with Red Bull Racing. In his entire Formula 1 career, he has only driven Red Bull cars.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd in addition to his driving skills, he is just an important family member for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a contract until 2028 and there was nothing that spoke against continuing that contract.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marko reckons his driver has made the right call, after all, no one knows what F1 2026 is going to bring. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what considerations he made, personally and with his management,\u201d the Red Bull motorsport advisor added. \u201cBut it was clear from his statements that he wanted to stay.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if the escape clause had come into effect\u2026 Nobody knows what the situation will be like in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cMercedes declares itself the favourite, but there is no evidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso in terms of chassis, you don\u2019t know who will hit the jackpot. There is a lot of uncertainty. <\/p>\n

\u201cFrom his perspective, it makes much more sense to stay, wait and see.\u201d<\/p>\n

The caveat? \u201cIf it turns out next year that we are not competitive, he can always reconsider his decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read next: Mercedes tease \u2018watch this space\u2019 driver announcement \u2013 but it\u2019s not Russell or Antonelli<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Helmut Marko is convinced Max Verstappen has made the right decision to stay with Red Bull next season,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,4405,818,825,44,918,85],"class_list":["post-60012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-helmut-marko","tag-home-page","tag-max-verstappen","tag-news","tag-red-bull","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}