Linked to Aston Martin in a deal said to be worth £1 billion, Max Verstappen’s team didn’t deny the reported swoop with a simple “that’s nice” comment when quizzed on the claim.

Verstappen spent a large part of 2024 fielding questions about his Formula 1 future despite being under contract with Red Bull through to the end of 2028.

Max Verstappen to Aston Martin?

But while that was laid to rest when he unequivocally stated that “yes” he would be a Red Bull driver for the F1 2025 season, the new year has already begun with a fresh report that he could leave the team. Not for Mercedes, but for Aston Martin.

According to the Daily Mail, Aston Martin’s managing director of commercial and marketing Jefferson Slack has been wooing potential sponsors by claiming four-time F1 champ Verstappen is set to join the team.

The report claims Slack is ‘going around’ telling sponsors that ‘Max is going to be joining Aston Martin’ in a deal worth ‘£1billion’. That would make it the biggest in Formula 1, even bigger than Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari.

Aston Martin strenuously denied the report, telling PlanetF1.com: “An Aston Martin Aramco spokesperson categorically denied the story.”

But when the claim was put to Verstappen’s people, they didn’t confirm or deny it.

“That’s nice,” was the answer that GPblog received.

Aston Martin courting Verstappen is not a new rumour as last season it was said team owner Lawrence Stroll was keen on signing the Dutchman after securing the services of Red Bull’s championship-winning designer Adrian Newey.

Verstappen, however, denied that there’d been any talks about him potentially partnering up with Newey at Aston Martin.

“No, I haven’t talked about that at all either, just nothing at all,” he told Viaplay. “At the moment I haven’t thought about that at all.”

But while that may not be on the cards today, his father Jos Verstappen has refused to rule out Max moving to a new team in F1 2026 when the sport introduces all-new cars.

“Red Bull has to build a car that is no longer so difficult to drive,” Verstappen Sr said. “If you look at the second half of 2024, you can’t be optimistic.

“Red Bull has a big task ahead of it in 2025.”

Asked if Max’s future was ‘open’, he replied: “Yes, everything is possible.

“He can stay with Red Bull if he sees a point to it. His goal is to be able to win races.

“If he feels that this is no longer possible at Red Bull, a change is not out of the question.”