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F1 fans online have reacted to Aston Martin claiming that rumors of Max Verstappen being offered a $300M contract by the British team is purely media speculation. The fans on social media have shared mixed reactions to the statement by the Silverstone-based team.
It had been rumored all week that Max Verstappen could potentially be looking for a way out of his Red Bull contract, after a poor showing by the team at last weekend's Bahrain GP. The two teams who have been mentioned most are Mercedes and Aston Martin, with rumors also floating around suggesting that the latter team has already offered him a $300M contract.
But coming into the race weekend at Jeddah, Aston Martin clarified that there was no truth to the rumors. The statement also added that the Astons feel they already have 'an amazing driver line-up'.
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"It's normal for the media to speculate on driver market. But we have an amazing driver line-up, that we are committed to, and who are under contract for 2026 and beyond." [via PlanetF1]
Fans have reacted to this statement, with a few latching onto the 'amazing driver line-up' comment to criticize Lance Stroll.
"Lmao “amazing” only Fernando is amazing. Can’t believe they are gonna keep Lance over Max 😭😭," said one fan.
"Lance is not under contract, he is the contract," said another user.
"Amazing lineup where one driver underperforms and who is usually half a second slower as well," said another fan.
While most fans directed their line of questioning at Aston Martin branding its driver line-up as 'amazing', a few other fans also questioned whether Verstappen would even want to go to the British team.
"Who the hell wants to go to Aston Martin, they fell off bfr," claimed a fan.
"Like max would ever go to that average team. Mercedes is the best option," said another fan.
This is the dumbest s**t I’ve ever seen. Also Max wouldn’t touch Aston Martin with a pole I know Max is going to one of the big three and they’d change any driver for Max," claimed another user.
One of the biggest reasons for Max Verstappen and Aston Martin being linked is the arrival of Adrian Newey at the team, thus beginning the speculations of a reunion. Newey famously designed the Red Bull cars that the reigning world champion drove to claim his four consecutive drivers' titles in the last four seasons.
Max Verstappen shows positive signs in Saudi Arabian GP FP2
Max Verstappen showed some signs of improvement for Red Bull during the Saudi Arabian GP FP2 session, as he finished in P3, only behind the two McLarens. The Dutchman looked to be consistently in and around the top three during the fast laps in the evening session on Friday.
Verstappen was just over two-tenths behind the leader Lando Norris, and only 0.163 seconds behind second placed Oscar Piastri during the session, in what looks to be a much better RB21 than the one last weekend in Bahrain. Regardless, the Austrian side still looks to be slower than the McLarens yet again at this early stage of the weekend.
Verstappen's teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, was looking set to end his practice outing in positive fashion, up until the Japanese driver brought out the red flag in the final stage of the session after crashing into the wall at the final corner. Tsunoda finished the session in P6, four-tenths behind his teammate.
