A report out of Italy claims the Dutchman has been offered a three-year deal with Aston Martin worth AUD $470 million (USD $300 million).
That’s down from the claimed $2 billion figure that emerged in January but still marks an increase on the estimated AUD $100 million he’s currently earning with Red Bull.
It’s claimed Verstappen’s salary would be underwritten by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF).
PIF holds a vested interest with Aston Martin through its title sponsor, Aramco.
It holds a 16 percent stake in the energy company, a slice estimated to be worth as much as AUD $510 billion, based on figures reported by Reuters.
The PIF also has interests in the Aston Martin Lagonda road car business with a 20 percent stake in the business alongside the Lawrence Stroll-led Yew Tree Investments group.
Aston Martin Lagonda is understood to hold a 16.7 percent holding in the Aston Martin Formula 1 team and is currently looking to offload that as part of a restructuring of the road car company’s financials.
PIF is thought to be the frontrunner to acquire the stake, a move that would give it a minority shareholding in the F1 team in addition to its involvement through Aramco.
Verstappen has long been linked with a move to Aston Martin.
The 27-year-old holds a contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028 though there are suggestions break clauses exist should the squad fail to meet certain performance metrics – thought to be a prolonged period outside of the top three in the championship.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has attempted to play down the likelihood of a Verstappen exit amid rumours of crisis meetings in the wake of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
“It’s not a crisis summit,” Horner insisted to Sky Sports.
“If you sit down with your race engineers and discuss the race, I wouldn’t describe that as a crisis summit.
“I think the crisis summit was described as the meeting after the race in Bahrain.
“You sit down and you discuss these things logically. There’s always engineering solutions to engineering issues.”
The 2025 Red Bull has proved a difficult car, following in the footsteps of last year’s RB20, which fell off the pace in the latter part of the season.
That diminished competitiveness, coupled with internal politics, has led to repeated suggestions that Verstappen could exit the team.
At Aston Martin, both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll are under contract until the end of next season.
The squad has undergone a significant transformation in recent times with a vast new state-of-the-art factory replacing its former, tired Silverstone base.
It has also invested in a new wind tunnel and has long been recruiting to build out its technical capabilities.
Headlining that process was securing the services of Adrian Newey, the design guru having now started with the operation with a focus on next year’s car.
That will feature a factory Honda power unit as the Japanese manufacturer switches its supply from Red Bull for 2026.
The relationship is more than just that of a power unit supplier, with Honda Racing president Koji Watanabe telling The Japanese Times earlier this month that he has a voice in driver decisions going forward.
“The number of seats will be reduced,” he said in reference to downscaling from the two Red Bull operations to Aston Martin.
“However, as for us, we will continue to voice our opinions as Honda in deciding the drivers for 2026 and beyond.
“Obviously the team has the final say in deciding which drivers join the team … but the situation will be the same (as with Red Bull) where we will have our say.”
Verstappen’s four world titles have all come with Honda power.
Chances of the Dutchman switching camps have been played down by both Red Bull and Aston Martin, the latter insisting it is committed to Alonso and Stroll.
Nonetheless, speaking in the wake of a difficult Bahrain Grand Prix, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko revealed he was concerned Verstappen could trigger his exit clause.
“The concern is great,” he told Sky Deutschland.
“Improvements have to come in the near future so that he has a car with which he can win again.
“We have to create a basis with a car so that he can fight for the world championship.”
He then added to Kleine Zeitung: “I’ve said it many times, Max’s primary goal is the world championship,
“If we give him the car he needs for that, the question of a move won’t even arise.”
Verstappen was sixth in Bahrain, more than half a minute behind race winner Oscar Piastri.
After the race, there was an encounter between Marko and Verstappen’s manager, Raymond Vermeulen, fuelling suggestions the 27-year-old is headed to the door.
“To my knowledge, they were just having a conversation about everything, which I think is allowed,” Verstappen said of the exchange.
“Now if someone picks up on it, people can always see it in their own way, how people are discussing things.
“But I think we were all left frustrated with the result and the things that went wrong in the race.
“That’s where my manager Raymond and Helmut spoke about, even Christian [Horner, Red Bull team principal] came along, they all had a conversation and that should be allowed.
“We all care at the end of the day, we care about the team, about the people, about results. I think that’s quite normal.”
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