As Red Bull encounters a pivotal moment in its ongoing upper management disputes, Max Verstappen openly expressed his discontent during the events in Hungary.
Prior to the race, amidst visible frustration and angry outbursts from the triple world champion about the diminishing performance of his car, a crucial luncheon was held featuring the team's most influential figures.
According to Bild, Oliver Mintzlaff, the new sports CEO of the energy drink giant, was seen dining with Thai shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya, a representative from Red Bull's legal team, Christian Horner, and Dr. Helmut Marko.
Mintzlaff conveyed to Bild, "We are all pulling together and have only one goal - the greatest possible success for the team."
Earlier in the weekend, Dutch outlets suggested that, prompted by Mintzlaff, a significant amendment had been made to Marko's contract with Red Bull, ostensibly to detach it from Verstappen's tenure with the team.
Such a change would imply that Verstappen is committed to his current contract with Red Bull until 2028, which would be unfavorable news for Mercedes' Toto Wolff, who had hopes of recruiting him.
"I don't know exactly what the content of that clause was, because I haven't seen it," Wolff disclosed to Sky Deutschland. "The most important thing is that a driver wants to stay in a team and drive for them. Everything depends on that."
Marko refuted the allegations concerning the altered contract clause. "That is not true," he stated. "But we do not want to discuss this publicly. This has no direct consequences for Max Verstappen."
Ralf Schumacher, a former F1 driver and now a pundit for German television, remains skeptical about the resolution of the power struggle within Red Bull. "Theoretically, there is a line under it, but we see the emotions," he noted. body check tags ::
