'Verstappen's eye-watering Red Bull Racing contract buy out fee revealed'

20:50, 03 Jul

Updated: 12:16, 04 Jul

byLudo van Denderen

After Sky Sports in Italy came up with a rumor about Max Verstappen earlier this week, which has since been widely debunked, the British version now follows-up with a story that sounds at least remarkable. It's about the buyout fee Verstappen would have to pay Red Bull, should he decide to race for Mercedes.

It's no secret that Verstappen has a number of clauses in his contract that allow him to terminate his collaboration with Red Bull if the conditions of those clauses are met. For example, the Dutch driver could leave Red Bull if he is not among the top three in the world championship by the summer break.

Does Verstappen have to pay that much to Red Bull?

As far as it's known, those clauses mean that Verstappen’s contract could be torn up in such a case. But what if Verstappen can't make use of an exit clause and still wants to leave? According to Sky Sports' Craig Slater a buyout fee would then have to be paid.

The Brit has heard from a source within the team that it would be a nine-figure sum, so at least 100 million pounds, well over 116 million euros. Is this amount correct? It remains speculation.

But would Raymond Vermeulen, Verstappen's ever-clever manager, really have included such an astronomical buyout fee in Verstappen's contract? This would amount to about two years' salaries, which would be odd to say the least.

That a buyout fee has to be paid is to be expected. The question would then be how high a sum is it? Because Red Bull surely wouldn't benefit from having an unhappy driver in the car.