Red Bull Racing played a prank simulating a possible departure of Max Verstappen, shortly before the announcement of his renewal with the team, made this Thursday (20). The video published by Red Bull shows the team principal, Laurent Mekies, reacting scared to an email with the supposed news of the four-time Formula 1 champion’s departure.
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In the recording, released on the team’s social media before the official announcement, the Red Bull chief appears opening a message accompanied by a dramatic soundtrack. The email subject said ‘Max Verstappen resigns’, leading Mekies to react immediately: “This can’t be right.”
The confusion, however, was part of the joke. Verstappen was in the same office and pointed out that only a hyphen was missing in the message. In English, ‘resigns’ would mean the driver was leaving the team, while ‘re-signs’ indicates the signing of a new contract.
Soon after, Red Bull officially announced that Verstappen had extended his contract until the end of 2030. The renewal ended a wave of speculation that had lasted about a year and a half, although the Dutch driver already had a contract with the team until 2028 and had reiterated that his intention was always to stay.
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During this period, Mercedes and McLaren appeared as possible destinations for the four-time champion. Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ boss, publicly showed interest in Verstappen, while in recent months, McLaren has been mentioned more frequently, even having Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris under contract.
Red Bull, for its part, maintained throughout the period the position that Verstappen would remain with the team. The definitive confirmation came shortly before the Dutch GP in Zandvoort, the home race of the Dutch driver, with the new agreement guaranteeing his stay until 2030.
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See this post on InstagramA post shared by Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing)
Source: Instagram – Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen
