Herbert nudges Verstappen to join Aston Martin in Red Bull engine claim

Could Aston Martin be in the F1 future of Max Verstappen?

With Red Bull, Verstappen has shot to the F1 summit and established himself as one of the greatest drivers F1 has ever seen.

He made it four World Championships in a row in F1 2024, but doing so after his and Red Bull’s trademark dominance of F1’s ground effect era faded, F1 2025 could deliver an epic title scrap as Verstappen sets about making it five in a row.

This is the final season for the current regulations, with a huge overhaul coming in F1 2026 as new chassis and power unit rulebooks arrive, this reset a particularly crucial one for Red Bull.

That is because for the first time, Red Bull will become a power unit manufacturer in their own right for that new era, their multi-title-winning Honda partnership to end as Red Bull Powertrains join forces with Ford in this new power unit venture.

However, Herbert is claiming to have heard some worrying noises coming out of the Red Bull Powertrains-Ford project, which he believes makes leaving to join Aston Martin a wise choice for Verstappen.

Not only is Aston Martin taking over use of the Honda engine from F1 2026, but the team has also signed Red Bull’s former F1 design guru Adrian Newey, who has contributed to a total of 26 F1 title wins in his illustrious career, including all 14 of Red Bull’s.

Verstappen is under contract at Red Bull until the end of the 2028 season, though team principal Christian Horner confirmed to media, including PlanetF1.com, last season that Verstappen’s deal contains a “performance element”, and it is speculated that should Verstappen spend a significant part of F1 2025 outside the top three in the championship, he can trigger that exit clause.

“There’s rumours that it’s been tougher than they [Red Bull] ever expected and it hasn’t been as positive as they were expecting,” Herbert told CasinoApps in regards to the Red Bull Powertrains-Ford project.

“That makes your decision much easier when you know that it’s not going quite to plan with the power unit itself, and then you know that the power unit that you were successful with is going to be at Aston Martin as well, along with Adrian Newey.

“It makes total sense [for Verstappen to join Aston Martin]. Max is no fool. Max is going to want to place himself in the best place that will give him that chance of winning races and a World Championship.

“If all those elements aren’t working where he’s at present, as I’ve heard on the Ford front, and an opportunity came at Aston Martin, I would be shocked if Max wouldn’t bite and go for it.

“Because he knows very well that potentially, with Adrian and with the Honda, Aston Martin will be the place to be.

“Would you give up the place to be just to stay at something that’s been good to you over the last couple of years? Racing drivers don’t work like that. Max doesn’t work like that. Max is there to win. And as he has said it’s all about winning. That’s exactly what he wants to do.

“Christian has said Max is not going anywhere. I know he’s got the contract until 2028 but again contracts don’t mean anything if performance is not there. Champions I’ve known have always had a performance clause.”

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Verstappen to Aston Martin talk resurfaced over the winter after a Daily Mail report of an offer worth ‘$1 billion’.

The claim though, was strongly denied by Aston Martin, a spokesperson telling PlanetF1.com: “An Aston Martin Aramco spokesperson categorically denied the story.”

Verstappen would stress “the only contact” he had with Aston Martin was regarding GT racing, that duly coming to fruition when Verstappen announced an expansion of his Verstappen.com Racing team to enter the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.

Verstappen.com Racing will support the 2 Seas Motorsport team in an alliance which sees Team Redline virtual racer Chris Lulham hit the real racing track, alongside Thierry Vermeulen, who both will share an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo with Brit Harry King, who completes the line-up.

However, Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko believes there was an ulterior, F1 motive from Aston Martin as part of those talks.

“Officially, there has been contact because of Max’s passion for GT racing,” Marko told Motorsport-Total.com. “As we know, Max is a team owner and regularly drives GT cars himself.

“Apparently the Aston Martin is seen as one of the most interesting cars in that category and one has now become part of Max’s GT programme.

“The GT3 was the lure. And it is no secret that Newey is a big fan of Max. And then it’s only logical that you make him an offer.

“Whether the bid was really that high, I doubt – especially given Aston Martin’s current share price. But it was certainly a significant bid.

“With someone like Newey on board, who certainly has his own ideas and preferences when it comes to drivers, it would make absolute sense for Aston Martin to at least try and make Max an offer.”