Verstappen says Baku upgrades did not influence Red Bull contract decision

Max Verstappen says the gains from Red Bull’s Baku upgrades did not influence his decision to stay with the team through 2030. He said he signed on 20 August, before the updates had shown their effect, and did not know how well they would work.

Asked about the decision in Singapore, Verstappen described the talks as general discussions about Red Bull’s future and plans to make progress. The recent performance gains, he said, were a bonus; the team did not need to persuade him to remain.

Team principal Laurent Mekies had rejected that reading earlier. Red Bull knew updates were coming, he said, but was not waiting for one to bring the team to its desired performance. At the time of the contract talks, he said, the team expected it might still struggle to find the final three tenths. Mekies said the Baku package was not a negotiating argument.

Mekies described the discussions as being about underlying development work and opportunities for lap-time gains in the short and long term, rather than a specific Baku update.

For Verstappen, the most important change to the RB22 was its balance and predictability. He said that earlier in the year he often did not know what to expect as he entered a corner, which made it difficult to push the car to its limit. In recent race weekends, he said, its balance had become more predictable and the limit easier to locate.