F1 – Max Verstappen played it cool as speculation swirled around his Formula One future yesterday, with Red Bull’s four-times world champion saying it was not on his mind and he was ‘very relaxed’.
Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko said after last Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix that the team were concerned the Dutch driver might leave at the end of the season.
Verstappen finished only sixth, a week after he won in Japan, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri winning from pole with fastest lap.
“I don’t know,” Verstappen said when asked by an Italian reporter ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix why Ferrari were not being mentioned as a possible destination as well as Mercedes and Aston Martin.
“I mean, honestly, a lot of people are talking about it, except me.
“I just want to focus on my car, work with the people in the team. That’s the only thing that I’m thinking about in Formula One at the moment. I’m very relaxed.”
Verstappen, who has a contract to 2028 with exit clauses, had led the championship for more than two years, since May 2022, until McLaren’s Lando Norris won the season-opener in Australia.
The Red Bull driver is still only eight points adrift of Norris, and third overall in the standings, but McLaren have won three of four races.
“I just keep working, keep trying to improve the car. Naturally, Bahrain wasn’t a great weekend for us. I think we were all pretty disappointed with that,” said Verstappen.
“We just keep on trying to improve the car, come up with new ideas to try on the car. The competition is tough. That’s how I go about my weeks, just trying to improve the situation.”
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