Formula 1: Max Verstappen is completely open for 2021, says father Jos

Former Formula 1 driver and father of current driver Max Verstappen, Jos Verstappen, says that “everything is still open” for his son for the 2021 season.

Back in October of 2017 in his second year driving for Red Bull Racing, Max Verstappen signed a three-year contract extension to remain with the Milton Keynes-based team through the 2020 Formula 1 season.

Earlier this season, there was speculation, fueled by claims made by team manager Helmut Marko, that the 21-year-old Dutchman could get out of this three-year contract one year early if the team did not give him a car capable of winning the championship in their first season using Honda engines following the conclusion of their 12-year partnership with Renault.

Marko even expressed his concern that Verstappen may join Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, the five-time reigning champions which opened up the 2019 season by winning the first eight races, ahead of the 2020 season.

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Verstappen’s personal manager, Raymond Vermeulen, confirmed that he did have a performance exit clause in his contract, but he did not reveal details about it.

After the summer break began, however, Marko confirmed that this performance exit clause had expired. With 12 of the season’s 21 races having been contested, Verstappen was in third place in the driver standings with two victories, and that was good enough for Red Bull Racing to retain his rights for the 2020 season.

But beyond the 2020 season, the season in which Red Bull Racing and Verstappen truly expect to contend for the championship, Verstappen is free to leave Red Bull Racing if things don’t work out.

Jos Verstappen, Max’s father and a former Formula 1 driver himself, confirmed that this is the case. Here is what he had to say about his son as it pertains to the 2021 season, according to Ziggo Sport.

"“The most important thing is that we get a car with which Max can compete for the title. Next year we will be at Red Bull anyway, but everything is still open for 2021. It will really depend on whether we will get a car in 2020 we can fight for the championship. We are concentrating on next season and will look further afterwards.”"

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton has already stated that he wouldn’t mind being Verstappen’s teammate at some point, and Verstappen said the same thing about Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who responded to earning his first career Formula 1 victory earlier this month by doubling his win total one week later.

Mercedes and Ferrari are the only teams other than Red Bull Racing that have won any of the 132 races that have been contested since the 2013 season opener, and they are both slated to have open seats for the 2021 season.

Hamilton, whose contract expires at the end of the 2020 season, will likely return to the Silver Arrows for the 2021 season as he attempts to break Michael Schumacher’s all-time championships record of seven, but Valtteri Bottas’s 2020 season is set to be his fourth consecutive season driving on a one-year contract.

While Leclerc is reportedly under contract with the Prancing Horse through the 2022 season, Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari contract ends after the 2020 season, and his performance as a whole over the last few seasons has declined. He hasn’t won a race in over a year, and he continues to throw away valuable points by making unforced error after unforced error.

Max Verstappen doesn’t have a contract with Red Bull Racing beyond the conclusion of the 2020 Formula 1 season. Will he re-sign with Red Bull Racing for the 2021 season, or will he join another championship contending team such as Mercedes or Ferrari? His father has made clear that anything is possible.