Max Verstappen linked with £100m contract buyout as drastic Red Bull action teased

Max Verstappen may have to pay in excess of £100million to cut himself free from his Red Bull contract to join Mercedes for the F1 2026 season.

That is the claim of Sky F1 reporter Craig Slater, who says the figure has been put forward by a “team insider.”

Max Verstappen to pay ‘£100m’ to force Red Bull to Mercedes move?

Despite being officially under contract with Red Bull until the end of the F1 2028 season, Verstappen has been heavily linked with a move away from the team at the end of this year.

Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, confirmed to media including PlanetF1.com last year that the Dutchman’s contract contains a “performance element” that could allow him to leave the team before the end of his deal.

It is believed that Verstappen can activate an exit clause if he is lower than fourth in the Drivers’ Championship after next month’s Hungarian Grand Prix, the final race before the summer break.

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Verstappen currently occupies third in the standings with a nine-point lead over George Russell, the driver with whose Mercedes seat he has been linked.

Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari driver who’s fortunes could theoretically trigger the Red Bull driver’s exit clause, sits a further 27 points behind in fifth.

A report in Italy on Wednesday claimed that Verstappen is close to sealing a deal with Mercedes for F1 2026, with the transfer awaiting approval from the Mercedes board.

It came just days after Russell, whose current contract expires at the end of this season, revealed that talks to take the four-time world champion to Mercedes are “ongoing.”

Although it appears that Verstappen will not meet the criteria to activate his Red Bull exit clause as things stand, it is possible that the he could force a switch to Mercedes for next season.

Slater has estimated that it could cost the 27-year-old in excess of £100m to break free from his Red Bull deal – and that team and driver could eventually come to a compromise to allow the 27-year-old to walk away and join Mercedes.

Appearing on Sky, he said: “The sort of internal discussion with the Red Bull hierarchy about losing Verstappen or keeping an unhappy Max Verstappen.

“And then also this idea which has been expressed to me from a team insider that it would cost in excess of nine figures – so £100 million plus – for Max to buy his way out of his deal.

“Do you force that or do you come to some kind of arrangement, a bit like in football, if a player wants away, normally they get away.”

More on Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing from PlanetF1.com

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According to estimated figures by PlanetF1.com, Verstappen’s Red Bull contract makes him the highest-paid driver on the current grid.

The 27-year-old is believed to be earning a salary of $75million (£55m/€63.6m at current exchange rates) in the F1 2025 season.

The next best-paid driver is Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time World Champion, whose Ferrari contract is thought to be worth $57m (£41.8m/€48.3m) per season.

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com after the Austrian Grand Prix, Horner pointed out that Mercedes have “got their own problems” after Russell finished more than a minute behind the race-winning McLaren of Lando Norris at the Red Bull Ring.

He said: “I think they’ve got their own problems.

“They were 62 seconds behind the race leader, so Mercedes have got their own issues.

“We’re just focused on ourselves. We know what the situation is with Max.

“We know what the contracts are with Max, and the rest is all noise that’s not coming from here.”

Mercedes’ preparations for the new F1 2026 rules, which will see Formula 1 embrace 50 per cent electrification, fully sustainable fuels and active aerodynamics, are widely believed to be advanced.

The Brackley-based outfit previously emerged as F1’s dominant force following the last major engine rule changes in 2014, sparking a record run of eight consecutive Constructors’ World Championships and seven Drivers’ titles split between Lewis Hamilton (six) and Nico Rosberg (one).

Red Bull will produce its own engine for the first time next season via its newly established Red Bull Powertrains division, in conjunction with US giants Ford.

Meanwhile, Red Bull’s current engine supplier Honda will form a new technical partnership with the Aston Martin team from F1 2026.

It will seen Honda return to F1 on a full-time basis having initially withdrawn following Verstappen’s first title triumph in 2021.

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