Max Verstappen targeted with F1's first billion-dollar contract by Aston Martin: Reports

Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen is rumoured to have been offered a billion-dollar contract from the Silverstone-based Aston Martin. The rumour stems from Aston Martin's sponsors recieving word that the recent world champion might be joining the team in its attempts to try and secure a title in Formula 1.

The Dutchman is reportedly being offered one billion pounds (1.2 billion dollars) to join the team, based on pitches made to possible investors by Jefferson Slack, the managing director of the Lawrence Stroll-owned team. While Aston Martin has denied these claims, a source told the Daily Mail:

"Jefferson, or Jeff as others know him, has been going around saying that Max is going to be joining Aston Martin. It may be a ploy, adding extra value to the deal he wants to do, but bringing Max in also makes perfect sense."

Aston Martin recently signed Adrian Newey, RBR's former Global Chief Technical Officer and the designer behind their title-winning vehicles, allegedly only a first step in Lawrence Stroll's attempt to win a constructors' and drivers' title. The source continued to say:

"They have signed Adrian Newey on £20million-a-year as the greatest car designer of all time, and Lawrence won’t let that be the extent of it. He has said he wants to win the world title, and he won’t let anything stand in his way. He wants to end the dominant era headed by Christian Horner (at Red Bull) and Toto Wolff (at Mercedes)."

Currently, Aston Martin's two drivers, Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso, have contracts for the upcoming season as well as the 2026 season. Max Verstappen has also signed on with Red Bull till 2028 in an agreement between the driver and team that was finalized in 2022.

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Max Verstappen has no desire to leave Red Bull

Max Verstappen drives the RB20 Honda RBPT during the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Max Verstappen has been clear about having no inclination to leave his current team. In an interview with The Guardian before the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix, he said that he would like to stay with a single team for the entirety of his career.

The driver also mentioned not really having to attempt to win any more championships with another team, saying:

“It is not like I need to try to win the world championship somewhere else.”

Expressing his desire to stay with the Austrian team, regardless of what others might say about his career, Verstappen added:

“It would be very beautiful if you just could stay with one team and race there forever. I would like to believe [that could be with Red Bull]. That is the target. Am I bothered about a legacy? No. I don’t value my success because of what other people say.”

Max Verstappen just finished his ninth season with Red Bull, securing his fourth drivers' championship and has helped the team achieve two of its six constructors' championship titles. He goes into the 2025 season alongisde new teammate, New Zealander Liam Lawson, who replaces Sergio Perez after his departure from the team at the end of last year.