Max Verstappen 'calms whole system down' as Racing Bulls look to crucial decision

Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer has pointed out that Max Verstappen extending his deal in Milton Keynes "calms the whole system down" given the Dutchman's influence over the F1 driver market, both inside and outside the Red Bull family.

Silly season in the paddock has experienced somewhat of a false start this year, with the four-time F1 drivers' champion joining the Williams pair of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz in staying put at their current teams.

However, it makes the picture substantially clearer at Racing Bulls, with the Faenza-based squad now able to continue to access its options without the lingering prospect of either Liam Lawson or Arvid Lindblad being called up to partner Isack Hadjar at the top team.

That would have still been an outside possibility, with Red Bull naturally a would-be prospect for whichever driver Verstappen would have replaced elsewhere, in that now-discarded hypothetical.

But it does nonetheless make the equation more straightforward at Racing Bulls, with the team able to choose from its current pairing and F2 drivers' championship leader Nikola Tsolov, who has impressed across the campaign.

The Bulgarian will get his first proper taste of F1 machinery at Imola on Thursday, taking part in a TPC (Testing of Previous Cars) run in last year's VCARB 02.

Whilst the 19-year-old is on the radar of a race seat at the team, there is still a strong chance he slots into the reserve role, given how strongly Lawson and Lindblad are performing, something Bayer was keen to stress.

"Great news on Max, honestly, because that obviously calms the whole system down, and at the same time, we are very happy with both Liam and Arvid and the job they're doing," he told media, including RacingNews365.

Racing Bulls has long said it would take its time making its final call, and Bayer was quick to reiterate that team principal Alan Permane will make that decision when the time is right.

"So we're not in a rush. We have a good pool of drivers coming up through the junior programme," he added in reference to Tsolov.

"So I guess Alan really wants to keep everyone calm, everyone focused, and he will decide when the perfect moment is to inform the drivers and everyone here."