Verstappen can leave Red Bull after yet another technical problem at Silverstone

Max Verstappen can officially leave Red Bull Racing after the British Grand Prix. The Dutchman has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave Red Bull if he is not in the top two of the world championship going into the summer break. That top two is now officially out of reach for Verstappen.

With two Grands Prix to go, Verstappen now has 76 points in the F1 championship. The number two in the championship is George Russell, who holds a 75-point lead over Verstappen. With only two more Grand Prix weekends remaining in Belgium and Hungary, Verstappen can no longer make it into that top two.

Verstappen’s frustration after the race was also clearly audible. The Dutchman drove such a strong race and was on course for a podium finish, but ultimately he came away empty-handed again due to a crash with his RB22. The Red Bull car let him down, not for the first time this season. His frustration over the team radio was therefore entirely understandable.

With that frustration, Verstappen now heads into a short break before the final two Grands Prix on the calendar in two weeks’ time ahead of the summer shutdown. During that summer break, Verstappen faces an important decision on whether he wants to stay with Red Bull. He has a contract through 2028, but can leave due to the clause and does not have to inform Red Bull of his decision until October.

Verstappen expressed the hope that Red Bull can continue to make progress; if so, he has no reason to leave. Red Bull does appear to be becoming more competitive, but the updates do not mask all of the team’s problems. For instance, Verstappen had yet another disastrous start in the sprint race, and in Sunday’s Grand Prix he again suffered a technical issue that ended his race prematurely.

Still, there don’t seem to be many options for Verstappen if he wants to leave Red Bull. Ferrari already has Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton under contract through 2027, and Mercedes, with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, currently has little reason to look for a new driver. That leaves McLaren for Verstappen, but that team has its own problems and certainly does not seem like a step forward for Verstappen.