new deal

Red Bull star Max Verstappen signs £40m-a-year contract until 2028 to move on par with Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton

Max Verstappen has signed a bumper new five-year contract with Red Bull, saying: ‘I love this team’.

The reigning Formula 1 world champion has penned a new deal understood to be worth £40million-a-year.

The contract keeps the 24-year-old with Red Bull until he is 30, and crucially through the 2026 new power train regulations.

He will also take home a salary that is on par with Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton, who earns £40m-a-year.

“Really proud to announce that @redbullracing will be my home until at least 2028,” Verstappen tweeted.

“I love this team and I am very happy to continue this amazing journey we are on for a long time. We have accomplished so much together already but we are definitely not done.”

“I really enjoy being part of the Oracle Red Bull Racing Team, so choosing to stay to the 2028 season was an easy decision,” he added.

“I love this team and last year was simply incredible, our goal since we came together in 2016 was to win the championship and we have done that, so now it’s about keeping the number one on the car long-term.”

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner commented on the extension saying: “To have Max signed with Oracle Red Bull Racing through to the end of 2028 is a real statement of intent.

“Our immediate focus is on retaining Max’s World Championship title, but this deal also shows he is a part of the Team’s long-term planning.

“With the Red Bull Powertrains division working towards the new engine regulations for 2026 we wanted to make sure we had the best driver on the grid secured for that car.”

Verstappen ended Hamilton’s streak of four successive F1 world titles and lifted the trophy in controversial circumstances in the final race in Abu Dhabi.

It also denied a chance for the British superstar to break clear of Michael Schumacher’s record for seven world titles, with Hamilton also on seven.

Testing is underway ahead of the 2022 F1 season, with the Bahrain Grand Prix set to kick-start the action on the weekend of March 18-20.

Red Bull’s Horner joined talkSPORT Breakfast in February and gave an insight into what their star driver is really like.

Horner told talkSPORT Breakfast: “He’s got that inner burning desire. He’s a real fighter. You know when you put him in the car he’s going to give you 110 per cent.

“Outside the car, he’s just a normal lad. A nice guy that likes his sport, big into his football, and loves his gaming, too.

“He’s just a nice guy who doesn’t need a high profile life and just loves what he does.”

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