Red Bull underline importance of Verstappen in securing engine partnership

Helmut Marko says Max Verstappen's long-term contract with Red Bull is an important piece in the team's engine manufacturer "chess game".

Last month, ahead of the start of the 2022 F1 season, Verstappen committed to a new contract with Red Bull that will see the Dutchman remain with the Milton Keynes-based outfit until the 2028.

The seven-year deal which Red Bull team boss Christian Horner called "a real statement of intent" is believed to be the longest contract ever signed by a team and a driver in F1.

While the energy drink company is happy to have locked down the services of its star driver for such a long period, Marko has revealed that the deal is also an important element in convincing a potential engine manufacturer to partner with Red Bull.

"Max is an important link in the chess game," Marko said in an interview with German publication Formel1. "It is not surprising that manufacturers take this into account.

"It was therefore important for Red Bull to be able to say that we have committed the best driver to our team until 2028."

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Marko's comments clearly allude to Red Bull's talks with Porsche which is expected to be given the all-clear by parent company Volkswagen to proceed with its F1 programme which is believed to involve an engine partnership with Red Bull Powertrains.

"If you have someone like Max in the ranks, it has a positive effect on the rest of the team and the team partners," added the Austrian.

However, despite Red Bull's long-term deal with Verstappen, the bulls are not 100 per cent guaranteed to retain the 2021 F1 world champion until 2028.

Indeed, Marko disclosed that the Dutchman has an escape clause in his contract that would be triggered if Red Bull significantly underperforms over the course of a season, or "crashes" as the Austrian described it, as was the case in 2014, the first year of F1's hybrid era.

"If Red Bull experiences a kind of 'crash', just like in 2014, then there is, of course, an escape clause," Marko revealed.

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