Two seasoned Formula 1 insiders believe speculation about Max Verstappen's potential departure from Red Bull is quickly becoming a thing of the past.
After Verstappen's dominant pole-to-win performance at Imola, Red Bull advisor and long-time mentor Dr Helmut Marko called the result "important" — not just for the championship, but for the team's internal stability.
Felix Gorner, a veteran F1 journalist with RTL, wrote in his sport.de column: "Max Verstappen will 100 percent drive for Red Bull next year.
"He has now been shown that he can fight with the two McLaren drivers," Gorner added.
The rumours about Verstappen activating a performance-based exit clause during the summer break appear to have faded. So too has the speculation about team principal Christian Horner's job being under threat.
"I don't know who started that nonsense," Marko told Osterreich. "But everything has changed now anyway."
Gorner agreed, suggesting Verstappen's victory helped Horner regain control. "Verstappen saved Christian Horner's job. He was under a lot of pressure. Does the update work? It works.
"And now Horner can sleep soundly again as the head of Red Bull."
Former F1 driver Christijan Albers also weighed in, suggesting that neither Mercedes nor Aston Martin could offer Verstappen what he currently enjoys at Red Bull.
"Max is a thoroughbred racing driver who enjoys getting into a GT car and racing, even on Formula 1-free weekends," Marko noted, referencing Verstappen's high-speed run in a GT3 car at the Nordschleife between races.
"It builds him up, so we will never forbid him from doing that."
While 18 of the 20 drivers attended a private Monaco screening of the new Brad Pitt F1 film on Wednesday, Verstappen was notably absent — instead live-streaming a sim race from his apartment under the alias 'Franz Hermann69'.
"There is no team where Max could be given as much freedom as he has at Red Bull," Albers told De Telegraaf. "Basically, he has carte blanche. Everyone adores him.
"He is not under pressure from the second driver, because he is always faster than everyone else. It is just very calm for him at Red Bull."
