Has this Season Brought Out the Devil in “Mad” Max or Is There a Method to his Madness?

Max and George's Collision during the final few laps of the Spanish GP

The 2025 F1 season has already thrown fans into chaos with exciting fierce midfield battles, and a championship fight that feels more open than ever.

But there is a constant buzz of one question dominating both the paddock whispers and fan forums.

Is Max Verstappen “allegedly” and intentionally aiming to finish outside the top three in the Drivers’ Championship?

As the season and race events unfold, this narrative is becoming harder to ignore.

Max, a world champion, over the last four consecutive years, known for his laser-sharp consistency, devil may care mentality and relentless driving style, has looked off sorts over a number of races. He has been slower than expected and committed repeated uncharacteristic errors.

His actions on the track have been combined with tense and terse communication with the paddock and compounded by numerous confounded strategy calls on part of the Red Bull team.

At first glance, the temptation would be to write it off as a rough patch or the result of increased competition, but what if there’s something more contrived behind the events at hand?

The genesis behind the doubts and questioning point toward a fascinating but rarely known and hence discussed clause in Max’s Red Bull contract, which runs for another 2 years until end of the 2028 season.

If Max finishes P4 or lower in the Drivers’ Championship, he has the right to walk away from the Red Bull team.

This provides Max a perfect opportunity to cut the umbilical cord connecting him to Red Bull at the end of the 2025 season, without the consequences of; undertaking messy negotiations, suffering costly payouts or waiting another 2 years until the expiry of his current contract.

Unfortunately, things are never black and white and this narrative is no different since in itself it raises another question.

Why would Max want to leave Red Bull? 

Lest we forget, this is the team he’s called home for nine seasons, powering him to four consecutive world titles and as a consequence making him the face of the Netflix era of F1.

The answer is more nuanced and multi-layered, starting with the simple truth that Red Bull no longer has the appearance of invincibility.

In the first instance, the once dominant aura surrounding Red Bull has been eroded due to numerous recent events.

Since the departure of technical mastermind Adrian Newey, the team has struggled to maintain their competitive edge that took them to the verge of being unbeatable. They finished, by their standards a lowly, third in last year’s Constructors’ Championship, a step down that would have been unthinkable just two seasons ago and currently sit embarrassingly fourth in this year’s standings, looking increasingly vulnerable.

Intense tensions have ensued, behind the scenes, within the team management in particular, following the Christian’s controversy, in early 2023. This launched an avalanche of internal power struggles reflected in a rotating door of second drivers and a paddock that at times is battling more amongst itself than against the other F1 teams.

The cohesive team environment, which was once conducive to Max becoming F1 Drivers Champion and Red Bull the Constructors Champions, seems to have been buried in the past.

Secondly, it’s also worth remembering that there have always been doubts surrounding Max’s absolute loyalty to the Red Bull brand itself.

His trust lies with his close-knit inner circle including; his father Jos, his long-time manager and Helmut Marko, who have been key to his success.

In fact, in the case of Marko, the proof of Max’s greater loyalties was born out in the strong suggestion of Max’s threat to walk out in the event of Marko’s sacking, following an internal Red Bull investigation, for leaking details surrounding Christian’s alleged misconduct. Red Bull’s inaction against Marko, in the face of Max’s threats, gives weight to the conjecture that Max’s contract also provided for an early exit clause in the situation of Marko’s departure from Red Bull.

The purported strength of the Max-Marko relationship seems to be supported by the fact that it was Marko who divulged Max’s exit clause due to underperformance by the Red Bull team.

The sixty-four thousand Dollar question being, with a disharmonious team culture surrounding him and with the departure of key personnel, does Max still see Red Bull as the best place to fight for future F1 success and cement his legacy as the best F1 driver in history?

No doubt one of the key factors in answering this question will be whether Max sees the current hiatus that the team finds itself in as being permanent.

In the situation that Max concludes the cause of his current ills; the decline of the Red Bull team is anything more than a temporary blip or he no longer has confidence in the ability of the team, post the 2026 rule changes, to successfully compete in F1, the medicine that would be easiest to swallow and illicit immediate remedy is to trigger the exit clause in his contract by simply and accidently, no ulterior action being suggested by Chicane Chatter, but on purpose finishing P4 or below in the 2025 season.  

Max’s action of activating the clause in his contract would be akin to throwing a hand grenade into the post 2025 season driver’s market, ensuing in chaos.

Who will survive the game of musical chairs instigated by Max’s actions and who will fall by the wayside?

Hold your breath for the next blog!!!