Max Verstappen happy at Red Bull

Max Verstappen’s father, Jos, says the Red Bull star is happy in his current seat amid speculation he could look to join a rival team. The Dutchman picked up his first win of 2019 in controversial style on Sunday as he edged out Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Verstappen, who also won the race in Spielberg last season, had to wait three hours to be confirmed victor due to an investigation into a clash with Leclerc. The Monegasque was forced off the track as the two drivers went wheel-to-wheel but it was eventually deemed to be a fair manoeuvre from Verstappen.

His victory comes just at the right time after reports emerged suggesting Verstappen could switch to a rival team like Mercedes, who are priced at 1.01 to win the Constructors’ Championship, in 2020.

But his father has played down those claims and when asked what is the best team for Max he said: “Red Bull. Where we are now. “I know there’s all sorts of speculation about his contract, but it should not be forgotten that we really like Red Bull.

“It’s a top team that is working with every effort to be more competitive all the time. It’s great that Red Bull and Honda have joined forces and are moving towards a common goal.”

Red Bull’s driver manager Dr Helmut Marko has also played down speculation of a potential exit for their star man and insists they are focused on trying to make Verstappen a world champion.

“There are all sorts of experts who think they know better than Max or us about the contract,” Marko is quoted by the Dutch publication Formule 1. “Our goal is still to make Max the youngest world champion. “People called me stupid when I said we wanted five victories (in 2019), but I still think we can do it.”