Max Verstappen’s renewal with Red Bull until 2030 will not change the demanding stance within the team. The team principal, Laurent Mekies, stated that both sides will continue to be “extremely brutally honest” about the car’s performance.
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“This has nothing to do with leadership moments,” Mekies said when asked if the extension had been the ‘decisive moment of his leadership’ so far. “This is teamwork. There are 2,000 people working and trying to establish the facts that will convince Max that we are capable of producing the best package in the future, and that his contribution is well utilized so that we can produce that best package.”
“That’s what the group works day and night for, and we are not going to change our approach; we will continue to be extremely brutally honest with each other; we will continue to complain when the car is not fast enough. We will continue to express frustrations when we feel we could have extracted more, or when we feel we are not progressing fast enough, that’s what gets us out of bed every day, and we are not going to change that. But it’s something that motivates every person in different areas, and it’s something that motivates Max every day.”
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The new contract was announced on August 20 and ended speculation about the future of the four-time champion, who was linked to possible transfers to Mercedes and McLaren. The two-year agreement extends his stay at Red Bull until the end of 2030; the previous contract would have ended in 2028.
If he fulfills the new contract, Verstappen will have 15 seasons with the same team and will become the longest-serving driver for a single team in F1 history.
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