1996 F1 champion Damon Hill has suggested Max Verstappen could opt to take a sabbatical at the end of the current season.
Verstappen has been linked with an exit from the Red Bull team over the last 12 months as the team has run into a variety of issues with its car.
Although Verstappen managed to clinch his fourth title last year, the Dutchman has won just once in the opening six rounds of the current campaign, with McLaren commencing the season in phenomenal form.
Mercedes and Aston Martin have been linked as potential destinations for Verstappen should he opt to depart Red Bull.
Speaking on the Chequered Flag podcast, Hill pointed to the performance clause revealed by Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko as a potential route out of the team.
“Red Bull is fighting to retain Max Verstappen,” Hill stated. “There is a clause in the contract.
“It’s been explained quite clearly that there's a performance clause. If they don't match the performance clause - and let's be honest, he's never delivering less than 100% - if they don't give him that, then he's free to go wherever he wants.
“So Red Bull is under pressure.
“Where can he go? I don't know. George [Russell] is on the verge of signing, they say, with Mercedes again. Then that's that blocked out.”
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'Max Verstappen could take sabbatical' - Damon Hill
F1 will undergo significant changes next year with fresh technical regulations threatening to mix up the grid.
Both the chassis and power units will have major alterations, with no clear indication over who will commence the new era on top.
When asked if he could sit 2026 out and negotiate a comeback deal with the team on top for the following year, Hill replied: “He could.
“It might be a wise thing to do when you can see which way the wind is going to blow after new regulation changes.
“He’s young, he’s won four world championships and goodness knows how many races. Nobody knows what's on the other side at the end of this season, or what is going to happen.
“He could sit back next year and go, 'Okay, I can see which way the future is going to go for the next 10 years'. Whatever team is doing well will find the money to pay to have Max.
“I don't have the information they have. I'm saying it's an option, if Red Bull has not convinced him that they have the wherewithal to keep up the level of performance that he's been used to, then why would he raise for a team that's uncompetitive?
“For someone of his ability, he could take a year out, and it would be like no time has passed. He’d slot straight back in again.”
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