Mercedes have ‘made contact’ with Verstappen

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Toto Wolf "regularly calls" Jos and Max Verstappen claims Helmut Marko.

Toto Wolf "regularly calls" Jos and Max Verstappen claims Helmut Marko.

Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko claims that Mercedes are in regular contact with Max Verstappen and his representatives.

Marko claimed that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff regularly calls Max and his father Jos, sparking rumours of a possible switch to the Silver Arrows for the 21-year-old.

The Red Bull chief also confirmed that Verstappen does have a “performance clause” in his contract, though the exact details of that are unknown.

The Dutchman recently signed a new deal last season to keep him at Red Bull until the end of 2020.

“There is certainly a performance clause in Max’s contract,” Marko told AutoBild.

“Toto Wolff regularly calls him and his father, Jos.

“I am relaxed about it.

“He feels good with us and if we give him world championship material, I will not worry that he will stay.”

After switching to Honda for 2019, Red Bull are still trying to get to grips with the RB15 which has suffered aerodynamic issues since the season began.

Verstappen made the podium in the season-opening Australian GP, before coming home P4 in Bahrain, a race in which he claimed the team’s form “couldn’t have been worse.”

The Austrian team will feel the need then to up their game, otherwise Verstappen, Formula 1’s youngest race winner of all time, may decide to jump ship as he chases the World Championship.

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