MELBOURNE, Australia -- After weeks of speculation over Max Verstappen's future at Red Bull, the reigning champion has said he intends to see out his contract until the end of 2028.
Tensions within Formula One's all-conquering team came to a head at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix two weeks ago when the three-time champion hinted that he could cut his ties with Red Bull if close ally Helmut Marko was pushed out of his position as motorsport advisor.
However, on arriving in Australia for the third round of the season this weekend, Verstappen insisted he has no plans to leave Red Bull before the end of his contract.
"That's why I, of course, signed the deal in the first place," he said. "And that's what I said before also. I'm happy within the team and of course it's very important that we try and keep the key players in the team for a longer period of time, as of course that's where the performance is as well.
"At the end of the day, it's a performance business. It's the same as if I wouldn't perform, I wouldn't be sitting here, so I know how that works.
"But for sure with the deal in place that's also my intention to be here to the end, because it would be a great story for me personally just see it out to the end, because it basically means I've been part of one family and one team."
The comments represent the latest instalment in an ongoing saga at Red Bull that has overshadowed Verstappen's two victories at the start of the 2024 season.
Unrest at the team became public when news broke in February that Red Bull team principal Christian Horner had been accused of inappropriate behaviour by a female colleague.
Following the completion of an independent investigation into the matter, the team's parent company, Red Bull GmbH, cleared Horner of wrongdoing ahead of the first race in Bahrain.
A turbulent week followed in which Verstappen's father, Jos, called for Horner to leave the team and Marko's position also appeared to be under threat in the fallout of the investigation.
While Verstappen made his allegiance to his father and Marko clear at the second round of the season in Saudi Arabia, he said in Australia that he had no intention of becoming involved in the apparent power struggle.
"From my side, I also don't want to be too involved with these kinds of things," he said. "At the end of the day, I'm the driver and I'm here to look at the performance side of things, that's what I'm hired for.
"But from what I know everything has been handled in the right way. I'm not going into any further details from that side because I don't know more than that, and I also don't want to know as it's not my job or my task within the team."
Verstappen was linked to a move to Mercedes in the fallout following the Horner investigation, but in Australia suggested that could only become a reality at the end of his current contract.
"I don't know. I don't know after 2028 what happens," he said. "I don't know if I'm going to stay in F1, if I'm going to continue, maybe sign a new deal... I don't know that yet."