Unpredictability is one of the core traits of F1. No one knows whether the best team this year will maintain its advantage next year or not. This often leads to huge shakeups in driver lineups. Back in the day, Red Bull too experienced both of these incidents. When they dropped the ball to Mercedes, Sebastian Vettel jumped ship to Ferrari in 2015. Although. Max Verstappen may not get that chance as per Red Bull’s advisor Helmut Marko.

On the TV program Sport and Talk from Hangar-7 on Servus TV, Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel appeared together for an end-of-season gala this week. Accompanying them were Red Bull’s team bosses, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko. The quartet discussed what was a momentous and eventful 2022 season.

After some conversation, when Marko was explaining how Verstappen is different from Vettel, he also pointed out how staying at Red Bull is in the best interest of the Dutchman. He said, “Luckily, we managed to get them both the equipment they deserve. So, it’s better to think before you act… Going to Ferrari is not always the best.” [Translated using Google]

Marko was referring to how Vettel also had the best of equipment from 2010 to 2013. Yet he moved to Ferrari after one mediocre season in 2014. Vettel reluctantly pitched in to say, “Yeah, but from another perspective…”, laughing painfully.

His former boss quickly replied, “Yeah, I meant, for the future…” Hearing this, Verstappen felt Red Bull thinks he may shift to Ferrari too. Max quirkily said, “My contract still goes a long way.”

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Marko’s assurance of the best equipment shall be perfect for retaining Verstappen. Although even the Dutchman knows that he might want to stay at Red Bull rather than move to Maranello.

Could Max Verstappen ever take the call to leave Red Bull like Sebastian Vettel?

Max Verstappen has got a similar performance clause to what Sebastian Vettel had back in his RBR days. This clause enabled Vettel to shift to Ferrari when Red Bull’s 2014 regulations overhaul failed to deliver a championship-winning car.

Certainly, Verstappen will also not want to stay on the team, if they slip up as they did in 2014. But would he actually take the call to shift to either Mercedes or Ferrari? It may seem unlikely now that Max has become an integral part of the Red Bull brand.

But so was Vettel until 2014. Few thought the German driver might part ways with his dear team at Milton Keynes. Yet, he followed his idol, Michael Schumacher, to join Ferrari for winning more championships.

Here is the catch. Since Vettel failed in his title ambitions at the Scuderia, will Max learn from his senior’s mistake and stay put at the Austrian team? They say it is very difficult to deny when Ferrari comes calling. The Dutchman will have to be brave to take a call if such a situation happens to him.

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Max has a contract with Red Bull contract until 2028, the longest on the current grid. Though contracts can be worthless pretty quickly in F1. What do you think, will we ever see Verstappen drive for any other team?