CHRISTIAN HORNER AND MAX VERSTAPPEN ADDRESS $1 BILLION ASTON MARTIN RUMOUR

Following rumours about an approach from Aston Martin to tempt Max Verstappen with a billion-dollar offer, the Dutch driver has responded to the speculation.

Over the winter break, a report suggested that Aston Martin was attempting to lure Max Verstappen away from Red Bull by offering him a billion dollar driver contract.

Max Verstappen: There’s nothing to say

While Aston Martin’s former team boss Mike Krack said last September that the “door for Max Verstappen is always open, for everything”, an alleged approach to lure the four-time F1 World Champion away from Red Bull was reported in the Daily Mail in January.

The report suggested Lawrence Stroll’s team was offering a cool billion dollars to Verstappen to join the team and reunite him with former Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey as the famed car designer has switched camps.

The claims were strenuously denied by Aston Martin, with a spokesperson telling PlanetF1.com in a statement: “An Aston Martin Aramco spokesperson categorically denied the story”.

The Silverstone-based squad will field Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll again in F1 2025, with both drivers under contract for the next two seasons.

With Honda also switching to power Aston Martin in the new regulation cycle beginning in F1 2026, the British team could however be considered a viable alternative for Verstappen should he wish to leave the Red Bull environment, but the Dutch driver poured cold water on the suggestion as he spoke to media ahead of the F175 launch in London this week.

“It’s a lot of money!” he laughed to media, including PlanetF1.com, when asked about the report.

“Honestly, when I read that for the first time, I saw something like that, the only contact that I had with them was about GT3 for this year. That’s it.

“There is not much to say really, because there isn’t anything!”

With Verstappen setting up his own GT3 racing team by partnering with Team Redline and Thierry Vermeulen to run Vantage GT3 cars in the GT World Challenge Europe, he explained that the only contact he’s had with Aston Martin is related to this project.

Christian Horner: Max Verstappen is happy at Red Bull

With Verstappen’s relationship with Red Bull having re-solidified after a period of tension last year as team boss Christian Horner and his father Jos sparred following an internal investigation into Horner carried out by parent company Red Bull GmbH, the ongoing competitiveness of Verstappen’s current team remains paramount to keep the Dutch driver on side, Horner admitted.

Verstappen is under contract with Red Bull until the end of the F1 2028 season. With Red Bull re-signing team advisor Helmut Marko on a new contract last year, as well as Verstappen’s race engineer GianPiero Lambiase, the key pillars of Verstappen remaining with the team are still set in stone.

Asked about his thoughts on the suggestions of the billion-dollar offer, Horner smiled.

“I know you guys have all got column inches to fill over a winter period, but a billion-dollar driver…?” he said.

“It’s an eye-wateringly large amount of money.

“I think Max is very happy in the environment that he’s in.

“He’s grown up in the team. He has a great relationship with the team, the engineers, the technicians, and everybody that he works with. It’s down to us to provide a competitive car and continue to give him the platform to be able to achieve the results that he has over the last almost 10 years.”

 

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2025-02-18T19:27:23Z