The last one billion F1 offer made before Max Verstappen rumours

Could Max Verstappen's head be turned by Aston Martin?
Rumours this week have linked Red Bull driver Max Verstappen with a sensational ?1billion switch to Aston Martin for the F1 2026 season.
And Racing Bulls chief executive Peter Bayer has revealed that he has fielded offers around that figure for the entire team, let alone a single driver.
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Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
A newspaper report on Thursday claimed that Aston Martin have been attempting to woo potential sponsors by suggesting that Verstappen, the reigning World Champion, will join the team in the near future.
The claims have been strongly denied by the Aston Martin team, who issued a statement to PlanetF1.com reading:?“An Aston Martin Aramco spokesperson categorically denied the story.”
Fernando Alonso is under contract for 2025 and ’26, while Lance Stroll’s indefinite contract is understood to encompass at least the next two seasons.
Meanwhile, Verstappen’s current Red Bull deal is scheduled to last until the end of the F1 2028 campaign.
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Verstappen was persistently linked with a move away from Red Bull during F1 2024 in light of the team’s competitive decline and the behind-the-scenes tensions between his father Jos and team principal Christian Horner.
Despite suffering a 10-race winless streak, his longest barren run since 2020, Verstappen managed to secure a fourth consecutive World Championship in F1 2024.
Horner confirmed to media including PlanetF1.com at least year’s Dutch Grand Prix that Verstappen’s contract contains a “performance element” that would allow the Dutchman to leave the team before 2028 if Red Bull fails to provide a competitive car.
It has been speculated that Verstappen will be free to leave if he is lower than third in the Drivers’ standings after a significant portion of the F1 2025 season has been completed.
Bayer has been in charge of Racing Bulls (previously VCARB/AlphaTauri) since 2023, revealing that he has fielded offers in excess of ?1bn since his arrival at the Italian team.
And he admitted the future of Red Bull’s second team was in doubt following the death of founder Dietrich Mateschitz in October 2022 before the decision was taken to reivigorate the Faenza-based outfit.
Bayer told German publication Auto Motor und Sport: “After the death of Dietrich Mateschitz, everything in the company was scrutinised.
“The question was asked as to whether we needed two Formula 1 teams at all. The owners then quickly came to the decision that this team did indeed have a function.
“Of course, this also had something to do with the fact that it was always a very emotional project for Mr Mateschitz.
“At the same time, Formula 1 has experienced an incredible upswing during this time.
“Williams was sold for around €150million in 2020. Audi had to pay more than €600million for Sauber. Alpine sold shares that corresponded to a valuation of €900 million.
“And we’ve already had offers of over a billion for the team, so keeping the team also makes sense from a business point of view.
“But we were clearly told that we had to be more successful on the track. Red Bull doesn’t want a team that finishes ninth or tenth.
“We also have to be more successful commercially. It has to pay off at some point.
“It is also our task to appeal to younger target groups. You will soon see that in our communication.
“We already have some great projects planned with the Red Bull headquarters for next year.”
The relationship between Red Bulls and Racing Bulls has come under scrutiny over recent years, with McLaren boss Zak Brown a vocal critic of the A/B-team relationships pursued by the likes of Ferrari and Haas.
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Since arriving in F1 in 2016, Haas has bought as many parts from Ferrari as is allowed under F1’s rules in order to increase their competitiveness on track.
Red Bull and Racing Bulls formed closer ties at the beginning of F1 2024, drawing comparisons with the relationship between Ferrari and Haas.
In an exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com, however, Bayer dismissed concerns over Racing Bulls’ closer affinity to the senior team.
“Honestly, [the critics] don’t irritate me because, having spent enough time at the FIA, I know how other teams collaborate,” he said, referring to his time as the FIA’s secretary general and F1 executive director.
“I said the other day, I think I can say it again: I know for certain that Ferrari and Haas work closer than Red Bull Racing and us.
“I understand that it’s a cutthroat competition, everybody’s trying to throw stones into the path of the other one.
“But if you just look, take a step back and listen to our drivers and the engineers, listen to the feedback, you will hear that our car is a different car [to the Red Bull].
“It’s simply not a copy. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be where we are in the first place.
“Secondly, you hear the comments from our guys and when you hear Ollie Bearman, who was driving the Haas and the Ferrari the other day [sic], when they asked him: ‘So what’s the difference between the two cars?’
“He said: ‘The colour!’
“For the 2026 rules, nothing has changed because I think everyone, deep down, knows that it’s not that you will be going quicker because you share suspension or a gearbox or stuff.
“It just basically allows smaller teams to focus on other stuff in terms of where you spend your time, money, and development and we see now, with the 11th team coming in, except for Williams and us, all the teams have an OEM link.
“I think that, if there would be a competitive advantage in buying a suspension, then Williams would move away from it [Williams still makes its own rear suspension].
“They’re moving away from it for cost cap reasons, probably, but if it would be faster I guarantee you they would find a way of buying that Mercedes suspension – because it comes with a challenge.
“You also have a challenge in terms of the design. For example, the big teams are pushing very much to the end of the season for the latest specs to be released, so we have to wait basically.
“Honestly, it’s a lot of noise around nothing.”
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