{"id":34988,"date":"2025-04-20T07:13:12","date_gmt":"2025-04-20T07:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/34988\/"},"modified":"2025-04-20T07:13:12","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T07:13:12","slug":"aston-martin-respond-after-reported-300-million-contract-offer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/34988\/","title":{"rendered":"Aston Martin respond after reported $300 million contract offer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aston Martin say they are \u201ccommitted\u201d to their current driver lineup but did not rule out a reported $300 million move for Max Verstappen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Dutchman has often been linked with a move to the Silverstone squad but a report from Italy ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix said Aston are preparing a big money contract offer for the current World Champion.<\/p>\n

Aston Martin react to Max Verstappen $300 million reported move<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n

Having enticed Adrian Newey and Honda to the team, Aston<\/strong><\/a> look set to go after Verstappen<\/strong><\/a> with Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport<\/a> claiming a $300 million contract offer was being prepared.<\/p>\n

They claim the offer would be three seasons valued at $100 million a year, making it easily the most lucrative deal in F1 history. Verstappen is already the owner of the most expensive contract in F1 with Red Bull paying a reported $55 million per year.<\/p>\n

Asked for comment, Aston said they remained \u201ccommitted\u201d to their current lineup \u2013 both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll remain under contract next season \u2013 but did not outright deny the speculation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s normal for the media to speculate on driver market, but we have an amazing driver line-up that we are committed to and who are under contract for 2026 and beyond,\u201d a spokesperson for the team told PlanetF1.com.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur focus is on delivering for our drivers by giving them a more consistent and competitive car. When we do, they are both capable of delivering great results.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Fernando Alonso<\/strong><\/a> and Lance Stroll signed new deals last year to keep them at Silverstone until, at least, the end of 2026.<\/p>\n

It is claimed that the move will be financed by the sovereign fund of Saudi Arabia, with Gazzetta claiming the Kingdom\u2019s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is determined to take over the team. Aston insists there are no plans to go any further than the investment offer vehicle which was announced recently.<\/p>\n

Aston Martin Lagonda is set to sell its \u00a374m minority investment in the Formula 1 team as part of a plan to increase the luxury car maker\u2019s liquidity.<\/p>\n

The sale, though, will have no impact on Aston Martin\u2019s sponsorship of the F1 team with the The Business Desk reporting Aston Martin \u2018will remain present and competing at the pinnacle of motorsport for many years to come.\u2019<\/p>\n

The process is set to see AML sell its stake, with Stroll appointing investment bank Raine Group to help find a buyer for its stake, with Raine set to work with the team\u2019s commercial chief Jefferson Slack to secure a \u201cstrategic investor\u201d.<\/p>\n

The sale will see Stroll increase his shareholding in Aston Martin Lagonda to 33 percent.<\/p>\n

The report from Gazzetta also suggests that Aston wants Verstappen from 2026 meaning they would have to negotiate an exit with his current employers Red Bull, with the Dutch driver under contract until the end of the F1 2028 season.<\/p>\n

The Dutchman\u2019s current deal runs until 2028 but there has been rumours of exit clauses should the team not meet certain performance targets.<\/p>\n

The suggestion is that PIF, if involved with the Aston Martin team, could dip deep to help pay for Verstappen\u2019s contract, although sources have indicated to PlanetF1.com that an offer has not yet been extended to the Dutch driver, but that the Silverstone-based squad could be testing the water.<\/p>\n

Speaking during the FIA Press Conference, Aston Martin F1 team boss Andy Cowell notably did not outright deny the possibility of Verstappen arriving at the team in the future, insisting that his focus remains on developing a fast and competitive cars for Alonso and Stroll.<\/p>\n

Pressed on his future by Sky\u2019s David Croft, Verstappen had some advice for the commentator \u2013 issuing a message to try addressing the noise surrounding him and his future with the Red Bull team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think just focus on commentating, I\u2019ll focus on driving, and then you don\u2019t need to think about any other scenarios,\u201d Verstappen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, honestly, a lot of people are talking about [the future], except me.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I said before, I just want to focus on my car [and] work with the people in the team. That\u2019s the only thing that I\u2019m thinking about in Formula 1 at the moment. I\u2019m very relaxed.<\/p>\n

More on Max Verstappen from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n

Max Verstappen addresses Red Bull garage talks amid bust-up rumours<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Marko\u2019s new Verstappen Red Bull exit verdict as grim prediction cast<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI am happy. I\u2019m just not very happy with, of course, our car, but I think it goes for everyone. You know, we all want to be better.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there is no secret about that, so that\u2019s what we are trying to improve.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we had really good chats in the last few weeks already with the people about the car.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we all very much aligned, so like I said, we\u2019re just trying to improve the situation. It doesn\u2019t change anything, so just keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read next:\u00a0F1 driver contracts: What is the contract status of every driver on the F1 2025 grid?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aston Martin say they are \u201ccommitted\u201d to their current driver lineup but did not rule out a reported…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[1837,4199,707,4200,225,972,1073,12,226,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-34988","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-aston-martin","9":"tag-f1","10":"tag-formula-1","11":"tag-formula1","12":"tag-home-page","13":"tag-lawrence-stroll","14":"tag-max-verstappen","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-red-bull","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114369056207004595","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}