Verstappen handed new team offer as fiery Red Bull relationship details surface

Max Verstappen has received an offer to team up with a former race engineer after details of a challenging Red Bull relationship have been revealed.

The Dutchman may have clinched his fourth consecutive world title with Red Bull in 2024, but this has not stopped rumours that Verstappen could move to a rival team.

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Verstappen has been linked to a shock Aston Martin switch, after a report from the Daily Mail emerged that a figure within the team claimed that the champion would be joining the team.

However, Aston Martin has categorically denied the claims in this report, and confirmed that Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll would be there drivers in 2025 and 2026.

Could Verstappen be set for big change?

Despite team switch rumours, Verstappen has frequently stated in interviews that he is happy at Red Bull and will remain at the team until his contract runs out in 2028.

Verstappen has several allies around him at Red Bull, including team chief Helmut Marko, and his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, regardless of their fiery team radio exchanges over the course of their career together.

Speaking on The Red Flags Podcast, former Ferrari and Williams engineer Rob Smedley has given fans an insight into the nature of the duo's relationship, and admitted he would love to work with Verstappen if that opportunity were to arise.

“Max, Max 100 per cent," he replied when asked which driver on the grid he would choose to team up with. "I think Max and I would get on.”

Smedley also discussed Lambiase and Verstappen's fiery relationship, where he confirmed how well matched the pair are at Red Bull.

“I think between Max and GP they’ve definitely got that relationship right, GP tells him how it is and Max will fire back," he added.

“One thing I really like about GP - and again that’s very similar to how I always felt as well - is sometimes the drivers can get slightly sociopathic on their views on the team.

'These are guys who are staying up until midnight, working for you and getting things right.

“You’ve heard GP a couple of times, and I’ve definitely said it to my drivers: ‘I think you need to go back into the garage and apologise to the guys because how you’ve been behaving is not very adult' or, ‘you haven’t been a very nice person’, to put it in polite terms, ‘so get in there and apologise’. GP’s done that with Max.”

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“I think the way Gianpiero conducts that himself on the radio, it’s probably just a reflection of their real relationship.

"They both rely on each other fully and they both trust each other fully and when they’ve got that they can talk to each other how they want.”

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