Was Max Verstappen aware of the effects of Red Bull's significant upgrade when he finalized his new contract?

Unsurprisingly, this fueled much speculation regarding Verstappen's future, although he disclosed at Zandvoort that he had, in fact, been much closer to an early retirement from F1 than to switching teams.

Before Verstappen's home race, the news finally broke: the Dutch driver's already extensive contract with Red Bull had been renegotiated and extended by an additional two years.

Now that the Milton Keynes-based team has made significant progress and is contending for victories once more, the question arises whether he might have had insider knowledge when he signed.

In other words, did Verstappen already anticipate that Red Bull would regain its competitive edge with the next upgrade package?

“No, not really, it was more just discussing the future, and of course, the ideas about how the team is progressing,” Verstappen responded. “And I liked those ideas. It's not that they needed to persuade me or anything; it’s just the usual conversation you have with the team.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

“And for me, it’s been truly enjoyable collaborating with this team. Naturally, yes, with the advancements we've made, it's a nice bonus, because competing at the front is significantly more fulfilling, of course.”

Verstappen also noted that the Baku upgrade is not solely about sheer performance. Perhaps even more crucial than the raw improvements in load and lap time is the fact that the RB22 has become much more predictable again.

And this predictability is precisely what enables the driver to exert more influence on the car, at least within the constraints of the current power unit regulations.

“The major shift with our car is that it has become significantly more predictable and balanced, where earlier in the year, I often didn’t know what would happen when entering a corner,” Verstappen clarified. “Back then, many unusual occurrences happened with the car.

“That’s why you could never truly push it to the limit, as you were unsure where the limit lay, or suddenly the threshold would change. That [shift] has improved significantly in the last few race weekends, just having a clearer understanding of where the limit is and enjoying a more predictable balance.”

Team principal Laurent Mekies also dismissed the notion that Red Bull had already foreseen the substantial progress in Baku and had leveraged it to persuade Verstappen to sign the contract.

“The brief answer is no. We were not anticipating a miraculous upgrade that would elevate our performance,” the Frenchman clarified.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Laurent Mekies, Red Bull Racing Team Principal

“We were aware that upgrades were on the way, and we also recognized that Baku would be the last one of this year. It continued the trend of the car’s development, and as I mentioned before, at that time we genuinely felt we would probably struggle to close those final three tenths.

“So it was definitely not a matter of persuading [Max] during the discussions.”

Mekies emphasized that Verstappen's contract renewal was grounded in the long term and his belief that Red Bull can continue to deliver competitive machinery in the future.

In that sense, the Baku upgrade was not utilized to convince him but is viewed internally more as a demonstration of what is achievable when all elements align.

“I think more broadly, we recognized that the dynamics were very strong within Pierre [Wache]'s team and in Ben [Hodgkinson]'s team, regarding what we believed was still the potential of the car package, both on the chassis front and on the PU side,” Mekies continued.

“And yes, this is the kind of dialogue we had with Max. It’s not about the Baku package or any other package, but rather about the underlying factors and where we perceived long-term opportunities to be. But no, nothing specifically related to the Baku package.”

With the existing chassis and the constraints of the budget cap, that will no longer be feasible in 2026, which is why Verstappen has repeatedly stressed that further adjustments will be necessary for the 2027 car if Red Bull is to consistently compete at the front again.