Date revealed for earliest exit clause activation in Max Verstappen’s Red Bull F1 contract

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has revealed Max Verstappen will be able to activate an exit clause in his contract in the summer break, should he decide to leave the squad in the wake of its flagging form in Formula 1.

Although Red Bull has locked in Verstappen until the end of the 2028 season, the energy drinks giant has revealed on multiple occasions that the Dutchman can contractually leave earlier if the team’s performance falls below a certain threshold.

Such performance clauses are baked into modern-day F1 contracts and work both ways; even a team can drop their driver due to a lack of results.

With Red Bull unable to take the fight to McLaren at the start of the 2025 season, and the RB21 also proving to be an incredibly difficult car to drive like its predecessor, there has been intense speculation about four-time F1 champion Verstappen’s future at the team.

But Marko, who plucked Verstappen from European F3 and placed him in F1 when he was just 17 years old, said the exit clause is not something he is concerned about so early in the year.

“Upgrades are needed for Max to win his fifth world title,” Marko told Formel1.de. “That is our big goal and the whole team is working hard on it.

“Of course every top driver has an exit clause if performance is not good. But they are all tuned differently.

“That is not a topic at the moment.”

Asked if the summer break in August will be the earliest opportunity for Verstappen to activate the clause and potentially leave the team as early as 2026, he said: “Yes, that’s the time window.

“But please, we are third in the drivers’ championship with a deficit of eight points. The summer break is still a long way off.”

It’s unclear what criteria Red Bull needs to meet to maintain its grip on Verstappen, amid rumours linking him to Aston Martin, Mercedes and even Alpine.

According to various reports, the performance/exit clause could stipulate that Red Bull needs to provide Verstappen a winning car, or ensure that he finishes inside the top three in the championship.

Currently, Verstappen sits only behind McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the standings, having scored a shock victory from pole position in the Japanese Grand Prix earlier this month.