Aston Martin responds to £1billion Max Verstappen contract rumor

The Aston Martin F1 team has denied reports of signing Red Bull driver Max Verstappen in a deal worth a whopping £1 billion. The reigning four-time world champion has been contracted to the Austrian team since the beginning of his career, when he graduated from their driver academy.

After winning his first world championship in 2021, the Dutch driver signed a multi-year deal that would see him race for the Milton-Keynes outfit until the end of the 2028 season. However, teams like Aston Martin and Mercedes had tried to sway him away after internal tensions arose at the start of the last year.

As reported by the Daily Mail, Aston Martin’s managing director of commercial and marketing, Jefferson Slack, had been attracting sponsors by claiming that Max Verstappen would join the team. Slack had pitched to potential investors that the deal, worth £1 billion, would be the biggest in F1 history and would involve the Dutch driver having equity in the British team.

It was claimed that Verstappen's annual salary would be eclipsed by four times if he took the offer from Aston Martin and would provide him a chance to work with Adrian Newey once again.

However, the Silverstone-based outfit denied any such deal. As quoted by Planet F1:

“An Aston Martin Aramco spokesperson categorically denied the story”.

Despite several team vying for his signature, Max Verstappen stuck to his guns and mentioned that he would honor his current contract with Red Bull that ends in 2028.

Max Verstappen gives his take on his future with Red Bull

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen stated that he did not feel the desire to win another world championship with a different team and was "happy" with his present situation.

As per PlanetF1, the 27-year-old refected:

“It is not like I need to try to win the World Championship somewhere else. That is not a desire from my side. I am just happy where I am at. And it would also be very beautiful if you just could stay with one team and race there forever."

“Am I bothered about a legacy? No. I don’t value my success because of what other people say. If I am happy, that is all that matters. In sport, you also need a bit of luck to be in the right team for a long time. It doesn’t mean that the guy with the most titles is actually the best.”

Max Verstappen secured his fourth successive F1 title in 2024 season despite driving in an inferior car for two-thirds of the year. While the Dutchman was able to do maximum damage limitation in almost every race, Red Bull were left vulnerable with the second car and lost the Constructor's Championship to Mercedes.