May 21 (GMM) Imola was an “important” result for Red Bull for more than just a single reason, team advisor Dr Helmut Marko admits.
After McLaren established its dominance over the initial seven races of 2025, a major car upgrade for Red Bull boosted Max Verstappen back into pole and race-winning form.
“For the first time in a long time, Max didn’t complain about the handling,” Marko said.
“We went around in circles for a year, but in Imola the car was finally top-notch again. It was important for Max to see that everyone was working hard and pulling together,” he added.
“Strategy, setup, handling, they were all top-notch. We were better than McLaren.”
Why was it so “important” for Verstappen to see a breakthrough? According to open secrets in the F1 paddock, it’s because he has exit clauses in his contract – apparently looming in the summer break – that could allow him to take up big-money offers from rival teams before his contract expires in 2028.
Imola could therefore have been a big step in convincing the quadruple world champion to stay put.
“Now let’s just make sure we win the world championship,” Marko told Osterreich when asked about the rumours swirling around Verstappen, “and then we’ll see what happens.”
One interpretation is that if Verstappen wins a fifth consecutive drivers’ title, the exit clause won’t be relevant. Marko denies that: “It’s not geared towards the world championship,” the 82-year-old Austrian insists.
However, another sign of stability and progress for Verstappen is that pre-Imola rumours that it would be the 400th and final race as team boss for Christian Horner turned out to be false.
“I don’t know who started that nonsense,” Marko said, “but now everything has changed anyway.”
He does admit, though, that McLaren could be back to top form this weekend at Monaco. “Things could look completely different there,” Marko acknowledged.
“It’s a completely different track with only slow corners. Things could go much worse for us there.”
Verstappen has won twice at Monaco before, and this year’s edition could turn out to be the most important in his career so far. “From a driver’s perspective, it usually only comes down to qualifying – that one fast lap,” Marko said.
“The race is usually a farce. Last year, (Charles) Leclerc and (Carlos) Sainz were sometimes slower than in Formula 3. In my time – I drove F3, Formula Vee and Formula 1 there – it was really different.
“It was a real challenge, with no barriers – nothing.”
