Marko says Verstappen contract clause news 'not true'

Jul.22 (GMM) As Red Bull reaches a decisive turning-point in its extended leadership power struggle, Max Verstappen’s public anger boiled over spectacularly in Hungary.

Before the race, with the triple world champion already letting his frustration show about declining car performance, a key meeting of the team and brand’s most powerful figures met for lunch.

Bild newspaper showed the energy drink company’s new sports CEO Oliver Mintzlaff dining with Thai shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya, a Red Bull lawyer as well as Christian Horner and Dr Helmut Marko.

Mintzlaff told Bild: “We are all pulling together and have only one goal – the greatest possible success for the team.”

Just hours earlier, the Dutch media reported that team advisor Marko’s contract with Red Bull had been tweaked – at Mintzlaff’s urging – so as to untie it from Verstappen’s presence at the team.

The implication is that Verstappen is now locked into his current Red Bull contract through 2028 – which would be bad news for the hopeful Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.

“I don’t know exactly what the content of that clause was, because I haven’t seen it,” Wolff told Sky Deutschland. “The most important thing is that a driver wants to stay in a team and drive for them.

“Everything depends on that.”

Marko denied the reports about the removed contract clause. “That is not true,” said the Austrian. “But we do not want to discuss this publicly.

“This has no direct consequences for Max Verstappen.”

Former F1 driver and now German television pundit Ralf Schumacher is not so sure the power struggle at Red Bull is now over.

“Theoretically, there is a line under it, but we see the emotions,” he said.