Max Verstappen has committed his future to Red Bull after signing a five-year contract extension which will take him beyond his 30th birthday.
Sportsmail previously reported that the 24-year-old visited the team’s factory in Milton Keynes on Tuesday to tie up the last threads of the deal, after committing to terms during pre-season testing in Barcelona last week.
It’s believed that he is set to receive £40million-a-year, which catapults him to the front row of Formula One’s earners alongside Lewis Hamilton – who he dramatically beat to the title in Abu Dhabi last December.
World champion Max Verstappen has signed a new long-term contract with Red Bull
Red Bull have now officially confirmed the announcement, with Verstappen’s extension running until the end of the 2028 season and is in addition to his current deal which was set to expire next year.
Verstappen said: ‘I really enjoy being part of the Oracle Red Bull Racing Team, so choosing to stay to the 2028 season was an easy decision.
‘I love this Team and last year was simply incredible, our goal since we came together in 2016 was to win the championship and we have done that, so now it’s about keeping the number one on the car long-term.’
Team principal Christian Horner added: ‘To have Max signed with Oracle Red Bull Racing through to the end of 2028 is a real statement of intent.
‘Our immediate focus is on retaining Max’s World Championship title, but this deal also shows he is a part of the team’s long-term planning.
The Dutchman, 24, will remain Red Bull’s superstar driver beyond his 30th birthday
Christian Horner said they wanted Verstappen in the car for new engine regulations in 2026
‘With the Red Bull Powertrains division working towards the new engine regulations for 2026 we wanted to make sure we had the best driver on the grid secured for that car.’
The conclusion of talks follows a well-sourced report in Holland’s De Telegraaf that Verstappen’s manager Raymond Vermeulen flew to Graz, Austria, last month to meet Red Bull’s motorsport adviser Helmut Marko.
It is not likely to have been too fraught a negotiation, given that Marko and team principal Christian Horner, backed by billionaire owner Dietrich Mateschitz, were determined to keep hold of their favourite son on a long-term basis.
Verstappen also hinted he saw his long-term future at Red Bull in the immediate aftermath of being crowned world champion.
‘I think they know I love them (his team),’ Verstappen said after the race. ‘And I hope we can do this for 10-15 years together. There’s no reason to change ever. I want to stay with them for the rest of my life. I hope they let me but yeah, it’s insane.
‘I’m so happy and also Christian but also Helmut you know, trusting me to be in the team in 2016. Our goal of course was to win this championship and now we have done that.’
There is mutual respect between Verstappen and those he works with, a sentiment that hardened in the crucible of the heated title scrap. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff had been actively tracking Verstappen, but relations broke down at Silverstone last year.
The Red Bull man, involved in a terrifying 180mph collision with Hamilton, was angry at how enthusiastically Mercedes celebrated victory while he was receiving treatment in hospital.
He committed to the eye-watering £40m terms in pre-season testing in Barcelona last week
That fallout put paid to even the remotest chance of Wolff landing his target.
Verstappen, whose raw pace and uncompromising style have won a host of admirers, will open his defence in Bahrain in 18 days in what will, remarkably, be his eighth season in Formula One.
After making his debut aged 17 in the 2015 Australian Grand Prix for Toro Rosso, he gained promotion to Red Bull the following year in which he won his first race for the team.
