Dr Helmut Marko admits the risk that Red Bull will lose Max Verstappen to Aston Martin is very real.

Verstappen’s management, including his mercurial father Jos, have already been flirting with a switch to Mercedes for 2026.

But now, Aston Martin has secured Red Bull’s technical genius Adrian Newey from March of next year.

Verstappen admitted at Baku on Thursday that he “very quickly” spoke to Newey since the news broke. “For sure,” said the Dutchman, “I know that Lawrence (Stroll) is pushing flat out to make it a success and of course I hope for them that it can be a success.”

The triple world champion says it’s “difficult to tell” if Newey’s departure has contributed to Red Bull’s recent performance slide. “But I’ve always said that I would have loved for him to stay.

“There comes a time when you can’t change these things anymore, so you’re just excited by people looking for new challenges.”

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, who is close to Newey, believes the Verstappen camp will certainly be weighing up their options for the future.

“Max Verstappen and especially his father and his management want to win, they want to fight for the world championship,” he told formel1.de. “Adrian Newey is a well-known figure for them, and so is Honda.”

Schumacher also thinks the Verstappen camp will have concerns about Red Bull’s new-for-2026 engine program in collaboration with Ford, especially with Mercedes and Honda-powered options also on the table.

“There still seems to be a bit of a problem there,” said the German when asked about the Red Bull Powertrains project. “It may not be so good after all.”

So even top Red Bull F1 consultant Marko admits the team really could lose its star driver.

“Max drives where he can win,” he told Kleine Zeitung.

“Aston Martin has the most modern factory, the wind tunnel will be operational next year and Honda engines will be added to that. Everything fits,” said the Austrian.

“And if you look at history, it is clear that wherever Newey has gone, there has been an upward trend. I don’t know why it should be any different at Aston Martin.

“But Max also knows that he can win titles with us if we can get through this world championship now. That is an absolute must,” insisted Marko.

Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack has already declared that the door to Verstappen is “always open”. So can the 26-year-old driver really contemplate a switch to green?

“Right now I have other things that I’m focusing on and working on,” Verstappen answered. “Maybe I’ll think about it in the future. Not right now.”