Helmut Marko is praying that Max Verstappen stays with Red Bull until the end of his current contract.
The reigning world champion and runaway championship leader is signed on with the Milton Keynes team until the end of the 2028 season as things stand.
But Verstappen has never been shy to admit that he would happily leave F1 if he no longer enjoyed himself or found it worthwhile to stay.
Marko admitted that he would not be surprised if, one day, Verstappen came to him and left of his own accord.
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Marko: I hope he fulfils his contract
"Max doesn't say something like that just casually," Marko said to oe24. "I hope he fulfils his contract, which runs until 2028, until the end. Who knows, maybe one day he'll come and say, 'Thank you, that's it'."
Verstappen currently leads the drivers' standings by a whopping 99 points, meaning that he could win the title by finishing second in every remaining race, even if Sergio Perez wins them all.
The Mexican himself could be considered under pressure at Red Bull having gone through a rotten run of form in qualifying, missing out on five successive top 10 shootouts.
Verstappen isn't likely to go anywhere anytime soon but one person who has been axed from the Red Bull stable is Nyck de Vries with Daniel Ricciardo drafted in as his replacement for the rest of 2023.
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