F1 Rumor: Verstappen eyeing Aston Martin amid Newey signing (6th Update)
Three-time F1 champion Max Verstappen has been the subject of persistent rumors suggesting that he might leave Red Bull before his contract expires in 2028.
–by Mark Cipolloni–
When pressed about the existence of such a contract exit clause, Verstappen offered a non-committal response, stating to Sky Italy:
“Maybe yes or maybe no.
“I repeat, I’m not thinking about this at the moment because there are so many things this year that I want to try to understand and do better than in the years to come.
“What will happen next is still far away for me. So I don’t have it in my head at the moment.”
“For my part, I think I’ve already been in this team for a long time.
“Then clearly people always want to win, everyone in the paddock wants to win.
“So you can very easily switch from one side to the other over the years.
“But I don’t want to let my career in F1 be like this, I don’t want to be part of four or five teams.
“I want to build a long and stable and beautiful relationship with everyone within the team and to feel at home.
“Changing teams often is not good for me also, something that I don’t want to do at this stage of my career.
“My next step, if ever, will be my last step.
“But the next step could also be the renewal with the team. It’s all up in the air at the moment.”
September 17, 2024
(GMM) Red Bull has good reason to worry about keeping Max Verstappen at the team. Verstappen’s management team is rumored to be eyeing a move to Mercedes or Aston Martin in 2026.
The triple world champion is under contract through 2028, but the deal is littered with reported performance and exit clauses that probably give him an ‘out’ at the end of 2025.
Verstappen’s management, led by his father Jos and Raymond Vermeulen, have been openly flirting with Mercedes’ Toto Wolff throughout the past several months.
F1-insider.com is now reporting that a “handshake agreement” has even been made between Jos Verstappen and Wolff, regarding a move for the 26-year-old driver for 2026.
But another potential option for Verstappen has just emerged, as Red Bull loses its technical ‘genius’ Adrian Newey to Aston Martin for 2025 and beyond.
The Silverstone based team’s works Honda power in 2026 may also be ultra-attractive for the Verstappen camp, given that all three of his Red Bull titles were won with the Japanese manufacturer.
When asked about the new Aston Martin link, Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko told Osterreich newspaper: “I have no idea where that comes from.”
It has even been suggested that Verstappen may try to take his mentor Marko with him – potentially reuniting the 81-year-old Austrian with an Aston Martin company car.
“I have to admit, the Aston Martin was a fun car,” Marko, 81, smiled, “but that’s not the deciding factor for me.
“Every sensible team boss has to be interested in Max,” he added. “And he always wants to sit in the car in which he can become world champion.”
Marko does admit that Newey will probably find renewed success in green.
“Even when he joined us, Newey had the know-how to become world champion,” he said. “He started with very specific demands and ideas. Nowadays you need a much bigger team, but he will probably get that.”
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, however, insists that Verstappen is still fully committed to the energy drink-owned team.
“He’s working with the engineers and explaining very clearly where the problems with the car lie,” said the Briton.
“He’s putting a lot of time and effort into this process, and has been on many Zoom calls and in the simulator over the last couple of weeks.”
September 12, 2024
(GMM) Fresh on the heels of Adrian Newey’s decision to sign with Aston Martin, Max Verstappen is already being linked with a similarly-sensational move from Red Bull.
Italy’s Autosprint magazine believes Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll is already in negotiations with the triple world champion, whose father Jos has already been flirting with a potential move to Mercedes for his son.
Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher thinks Newey decided to leave because of the internal team turmoil in 2024, which may even explain Red Bull’s sudden fall from dominance.
“The unrest at the beginning of the year certainly contributed to it,” he told Sky Deutschland. “But that’s not all that has been happening. You hear a lot in the paddock.
“There’s a lot of talk around that team,” said Schumacher, who admitted he has heard rumors that Christian Horner’s management style is “not quite as nice anymore”.
Newey admits he also had talks with Ferrari, but was ultimately attracted by Stroll’s passion for the Aston Martin project, the rapid development of the Silverstone-based team, and the offer of a team shareholding.
“We have managed to bring in the best,” Aston Martin ambassador Pedro de la Rosa told DAZN, “and it is because Adrian believes the team is ready for him. Not all the teams are ready to bring in a figure like Adrian Newey.”
De la Rosa insists he didn’t know Newey had signed until the rest of the world also found out.
“We knew absolutely nothing, I can assure you,” said the former F1 driver. “The truth is that we knew nothing but we knew that it was a dream scenario.
“It is very important news for the history of Aston Martin in Formula 1 – I think it clearly marks a before and an after.”
De la Rosa said he understood how serious team owner Stroll was about succeeding in F1 when he began to target multiple world champions to serve in the cockpit.
“The fact that he signed Fernando (Alonso), it showed his willingness to see one world champion go and to react immediately by signing another,” said the Spaniard, referring to Sebastian Vettel.
“That’s what he did with Fernando, that’s what he’s done now with Adrian – always counting only on the best so that the team grows.”
But even as the new Verstappen-to-Aston rumors begin to swell, Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore warns that the team cannot expect to simply buy success via prominent individuals.
“Formula 1 is actually not a sport of egos,” the Italian declared. “One man alone cannot change a team. Of course, they can buy whatever they want, but the result will not be related to their purchases.”
September 11, 2024
Not satisfied to leave it at Adrian Newey, Lawrence Stroll reportedly has his sights set on an Aston Martin swoop for Max Verstappen.
Respected Italian publication Autosprint – which correctly called Newey to Aston Martin – claims Stroll is now ‘aiming for’ Verstappen, with a view to bringing the Dutchman in for F1 2026. Talks to make this happen are reportedly already in progress.
At that stage, the new regulations will come into play, creating the appeal of a Newey-designed Aston Martin, powered by the Honda engine, the Japanese manufacturer having supplied Red Bull through all of Verstappen’s title-winning years.
Related Article: F1 News: Aston Martin finally confirms hiring of Adrian Newey
August 13, 2024
According to other reports, Adrian Newey is set to join Aston Martin on a remarkable $100 million contract over 3 years, not 4 as reported by Autosprint Magazine.
The announcement is expected in September, and he will begin work in 2025 on designing the 2026 Aston Martin.
Red Bull could not pay Newey that amount due to cost cap reasons. It is believed that drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, along with Christian Horner, are the three highest-paid employees that fall outside the Red Bull Cost Cap, but Adrian Newey was in the cost cap calculations.
At Aston Martin, it is possible driver Lance Stroll is only paid $1 per year because daddy owns the team, and he is so rich his son gets money from daddy through the family.
Hence, at Aston Martin there is room to make Newey one of the three highest-paid employees that fall outside the cost cap.
The deal has been confirmed by various sources, highlighting Newey as a key figure in Aston Martin’s future technical decisions. The team’s state-of-the-art factory, completed last year, likely played a role in attracting him, especially with its advanced technology, including a new wind tunnel.
August 6, 2024
Aston Martin has reportedly completed the signing of Adrian Newey as per Italian Racing Magazine Autosprint
The announcement is expected in early September, and they say Newey will be paid $100 million over 4 years.
It is understood the team is also aiming to sign Max Verstappen for 2026 with a huge salary when Fernando Alonso’s contract is up. The 2026 Aston Martin will be the first designed under Newey.
July 6, 2024
(GMM) Two prominent figures at the Aston Martin F1 team are hinting that more “big name signings” could be in the works.
After a highly impressive start to last season for Fernando Alonso in particular, the rapidly-growing Formula 1 team is having a much tougher time with a less competitive 2024 car.
Team ambassador Pedro de la Rosa (pictured), a former F1 driver, told DAZN at Silverstone that it has taken the Lawrence Stroll-owned team some time even to understand the car’s issues.
“A well-explained problem is half the solution,” he told the Spanish broadcaster.
“The team is now focused in the wind tunnel working on a very precise area because that is really what has to help us,” de la Rosa added. “We know what the problem is, we know what the diagnosis is, and that is very important in a Formula 1 team so that everyone is focused on working in that area.
“We need time to solve it and there is no easy solution,” he said. “But if you know what the problem is, you are on the right track.”
Alonso has said recently that a key car upgrade will debut in Hungary, but de la Rosa warns that it won’t be a silver bullet.
“Obviously these cars don’t get faster just by cleaning them up. You have to bring in new things. So we are working day and night in the factory to make small improvements that should gradually help us, starting in Hungary.”
The really positive news, de la Rosa says, is that a new wind tunnel will soon come online – while an even more sophisticated simulator “is also coming”.
“We have three buildings in the factory,” he added. “The first is fully finished, the second is in progress and building three is the wind tunnel which will be ready by 2025, and it’s true that we need it.
“But we have a spectacular team of people. We have to give them the tools and that’s what we’re working on.”
Former Mercedes engine boss Andy Cowell has just signed up as the new CEO, while Ferrari’s technical director Enrico Cardile is tipped to arrive soon.
And the latest rumblings in Italy is that Red Bull’s departing Adrian Newey also looks destined for Aston Martin, with a huge salary and an attractive role as technical ‘super consultant’.
“We’ll see whether we make more signings or not,” de la Rosa told DAZN. “But with the people we have, we already have a spectacular staff.”
When also asked about new and potentially-new additions to the Aston Martin staff roster even amid a performance dip in 2024, Alonso said at Silverstone: “The team is still attractive to big names who are being associated with Aston Martin.
“We must continue to trust the team and we believe that we have what we need to be successful in the future, but as drivers or racing teams, the future is tomorrow. We do not have much patience,” he smiled.
“But every time I pass the factory, there is always something new – a new building or an improvement.”