Helmut Marko has admitted that Max Verstappen's World Championship hopes are 'over' after the British Grand Prix, and confessed that the Dutchman 'may be having talks' with rival teams regarding a move away from Red Bull. Verstappen finished fifth at Silverstone on Sunday after an aggressive rear wing set-up backfired in treacherous rainy conditions.

The four-time world champion spun his RB21 machine after a safety car restart, dropping from second to the fringes of the top 10 in the process, setting up a long afternoon of damage limitation. His title rivals, meanwhile, finish in the top two positions once again. Heading into the Belgian Grand Prix, Verstappen is now 69 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, whose advantage over team-mate Lando Norris has been trimmed to eight points after recording back-to-back race wins.

This prompted Red Bull advisor Marko to make a worrying declaration after the British GP. "The world championship is over," he told OE24. "It's now just between Norris and Piastri, although Norris has made an impressive comeback with two sensational races."

With no title hopes on the horizon, Verstappen's Red Bull future has been questioned. The 27-year-old has been heavily linked with Mercedes, with Toto Wolff yet to pen new deals for either rookie Kimi Antonelli or lead driver George Russell.

In recent weeks, speculation regarding conversations between the two parties has intensified, and Russell poured fuel on the fire at the Austrian Grand Prix, suggesting that talks are ongoing between Verstappen's representatives and his current employers.

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"He could be having talks," Marko confessed at Silverstone. "But there are no current developments." Asked if this confidence was rooted in Verstappen's contract clauses, he continued: "That's exactly right."

It has been widely reported that Verstappen has a clause in his Red Bull contract, which runs until the end of the 2028 season, that would allow him to join another team for the 2026 campaign if he enters the August break lower than third in the Drivers' Championship standings.

Fortunately for Red Bull and, in some ways, Russell, the Brit's difficult home race weekend, which ended in a P10 finish, increased the gap between Verstappen and fourth place in the Drivers' Championship standings to 18 points. This means that the incumbent Mercedes driver would need to make significant gains in Belgium and Hungary to free up his rival.