Marko delivers latest Verstappen Red Bull exit update

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has insisted that rumours of Max Verstappen potentially leaving the team after next year is "all speculation". 

Verstappen has been linked several times with an exit from the Milton Keynes-based outfit, with the current reason being concerns over Red Bull's car for 2026. 

Next year, Red Bull will become an OEM for the first-time in its F1 history, meaning it will produce and develop its own power units. 

With it being the first time Red Bull has done this, the Austrian outfit is expected to struggle in the first season of the new power unit regulations. 

Some have speculated that a bad car next year could result in Verstappen leaving the team, with Marko confirming that the four-time world champion does have exit clauses in his contract. 

However, the 81-year-old has no concerns over Red Bull's 2026 engine or the rumours that Verstappen could leave. 

"There are performance clauses," Marko confirmed to OE24. "But let's assume that we are not really at a disadvantage in terms of the engine. 

"A gap of one or two tenths is manageable with Max."

Marko is insistent that Verstappen will not leave before his contract concludes at the end of the 2028 F1 season, despite various reports stating otherwise. 

He has stressed that full focus remains on the Dutchman becoming a five-time world champion this year, a feat Red Bull never achieved with Sebastian Vettel. 

"That is all speculation," insisted Marko. "We want the 5th world championship title in a row, that is what we are fully focused on. We didn't manage that with Vettel."