Helmut Marko has confirmed that their shooting star Max Verstappen is definitely staying at Red Bull-Honda in 2020 despite rumours linking the Dutchman to Mercedes.
The 21-year-old prodigy already had a contract beyond this season, but stories over the past days and weeks had suggested that he could defect to the World Champions alongside Lewis Hamilton thanks to a performance-related exit clause.
We reported during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend that the clause expired on race-day Sunday, as long as Verstappen was at least third in the drivers’ championship heading into the summer break.
“The clause was normal because we had a new engine supplier and performance is, of course, important,” Marko said in Budapest.
Now, he told motorsport-magazin.com that after another strong performance for Red Bull and Verstappen in Hungary, the future is definitely set, “Of course that’s nice, but internally we had already agreed that we would continue.”
Big Question: Has Max done the right thing to remain with Red Bull for at least 2020?