{"id":851187,"date":"2026-08-11T07:52:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T07:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/851187\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T07:52:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T07:52:14","slug":"max-verstappen-red-bull-deal-20-minutes-to-sign-the-four-time-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/851187\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen Red Bull deal: ’20 minutes’ to sign the four-time champion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Helmut Marko needed just \u201c20 minutes\u201d to secure Max Verstappen<\/a> for Red Bull<\/a> even though Mercedes\u2019 Toto Wolff was also in talks about signing the driver, Jos Verstappen has recalled.<\/p>\n

Verstappen<\/a> has gone onto win four successive F1 titles with Red Bull from 2021 to 2023, while Wolff admits he \u201ccertainly\u201d regrets not signing the teenager when he had the opportunity.<\/p>\n

Helmut Marko convinced Max Verstappen to join Red Bull in just 20 minutes<\/p>\n

Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust.<\/p>\n

Racing in the Formula 3 European Championship, Jos Verstappen and Raymond Vermeulen, who remains Max Verstappen\u2019s manager today, were in talks with both Red Bull and Mercedes about the teenager\u2019s future in motor racing.<\/p>\n

But while Wolff was loath to break up his line-up of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, Red Bull motorsport advisor Marko didn\u2019t hesitate to offer Max a Formula 1 drive.<\/p>\n

He made the huge leap from the Formula 3 European Championship to Formula 1 in 2015, with Red Bull in a position to place him with its junior team.<\/p>\n

Max Verstappen became the youngest driver to start a Formula 1 Grand Prix when he lined up on the Australian Grand Prix grid at just 17 years and 166 days.<\/p>\n

Jos Verstappen recalled how it played out as he spoke with AutoHebdo.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe already had the same team around us \u2013 manager Raymond Vermeulen, who is a good friend of mine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was him, Max, and me, and that\u2019s still the case today. So we were very well prepared. <\/p>\n

\u201cToto Wolff and Helmut Marko were both in talks with us. They were pushing to sign him. And we did our job \u2013 finding the best environment for Max.\u201d<\/p>\n

It came down to a 20-minute conversation that Jos Verstappen says was a \u201ctypical\u201d Marko conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember it well,\u201d said the former F1 driver. \u201cI was at Hockenheim, and it was a typical conversation with Helmut. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe came over to our table and said, \u2018I only have 20 minutes.\u2019 I told him that was more than enough time to talk. <\/p>\n

\u201cHis opening line was: \u2018I want Max with us in F1 next year\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was very surprised that he said that, so I replied, \u2018Okay, Helmut, let\u2019s do it but for two years, not just one\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause Max was so young, I thought he needed a first year to settle in, and that he could then show how good he was in the second year.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he adapted so well. He had such a great first year in 2015 that they promoted him to Red Bull as early as the second year. That was a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Max Verstappen was promoted to Red Bull at the fifth race of the 2016 F1 season and won on debut, beating Ferrari\u2019s Kimi R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen to the chequered flag by 0.616s.<\/p>\n

Today his tally sits at 71 Grand Prix victories, 131 podiums and four World titles.<\/p>\n

More on Max Verstappen\u2019s meteoric rise to Red Bull<\/p>\n

The truth behind Jos Verstappen, Max Verstappen and the gas station <\/a><\/p>\n

How Max Verstappen vs Carlos Sainz tensions resulted in Red Bull sacking spree <\/a><\/p>\n

As for Wolff, he was left to regret his decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey came to my office in Brackley and that must have been when Max was in karting or the end of his karting days [in 2013] just before Formula 3 [in 2014],\u201d the Mercedes team boss told ESPN. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then we spoke again when Max and Jos visited me in my house in Vienna. We spent a few hours discussing his future.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo I regret missing out on Max? Certainly. But it wasn\u2019t an option back in the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had two drivers that I was extremely happy with, in Nico and Lewis, and when Nico left [at the end of 2016], Valtteri [Bottas] was then the option and Max wasn\u2019t even available.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether Verstappen remains at Red Bull next season is still uncertain, as it is understood the Dutchman has also been speaking with McLaren.<\/p>\n

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n

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