Max Verstappen's contract runs to 2028, but it is not the immovable object it looks like. According to widely reported details of the deal, the four-time champion holds a performance-based exit clause — and Red Bull's difficult 2026 has put it in play.
The trigger, as reported, hinges on his championship position at the summer break: if Verstappen is not inside the top two of the drivers' standings, he can walk at the end of the year. Sky Sports notes the clause becomes active after the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 26, making the next few rounds — Silverstone among them — quietly decisive.
Verstappen currently sits outside that top-two picture, with Mercedes' Antonelli and Russell clear at the front and Red Bull unable to match their pace. Nothing is decided, and Red Bull will fight to keep him. But the mechanism is real, the deadline is close, and it is why every result between now and Budapest carries a second meaning. This is a rumor about a contract clause, not a confirmed departure — but it is the hinge the entire 2027 market is swinging on.