MAX VERSTAPPEN put the rumours to bed once for all and confirmed he is STAYING at Red Bull.
The four-time Formula One world champion, whose deal runs until 2028, had previously held talks with Mercedes over a potential move with Red Bull struggling again this season.
Shutterstock EditorialMax Verstappen has announced he is staying put at Red Bull[/caption]
GettyChristian Horner was sacked by Red Bull earlier this month[/caption]
Merc boss Toto Wolff confirmed the talks at the Austrian Grand Prix in June with Verstappen, 27, open to considering his future options.
The Dutchman finished fourth in the Belgian Grand Prix last time out, meaning he can no longer trigger a release clause that relied on him being outside of the top three going into the summer break.
Ahead of the Budapest Grand Prix, he said: “I mean, it’s quite interesting to follow all that and the amount of nice stories that came out of it.
“But yeah, for me, I’ve never really said anything about it because I was just focused on talking to the team about how we can improve our performance, future ideas for next year as well.
“I think it’s time to basically stop all the rumours.
“For me, it’s always been quite clear that I was staying anyway.”
He continued: “That was also the general feeling in the team anyway, because we were always in discussions about what we could do with the car.
“I think when you’re not interested in staying, then you also stop talking about these kinds of things.
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“And I never did.”
Former team chief Christian Horner was ruthlessly sacked by Red Bull two weeks ago.
But Verstappen said in Spa that the 51-year-old’s exit did not influence his future plans.
Horner was the longest reigning F1 boss after becoming head honcho of the Austrian team during its inception in 2005.
It comes a year after the ‘sexting scandal’ that engulfed him over texts he apparently sent to a female employee.
Despite keeping his job in the aftermath of the chaos, Red Bull have slumped down both the Drivers and Constructors standings.
And Horner didn’t survive, replaced by Laurent Mekies.
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