Max Verstappen, who was once hailed as a future star of Formula One, finally proved them right by winning his first-ever world championship title in 2021 despite persistent threats from Lewis Hamilton. And since then, Red Bull have been desperate to extend their contract with the Dutchman, which seems reasonable enough because who wouldn’t want a driver like Verstappen in their team?

However, quite recently, Dr. Helmut Marko made a statement that almost sounded like he was concerned about the potential financial demands that Verstappen might put forward.

The Austrian, who is looking to hold talks with Verstappen and co. over the Red Bull contract extension, mentioned that the 24-year-old can no longer demand an increment in his salary even though he is now a world champion. “We are almost at the limit with Max in terms of salary. It will stop once,” he said.

But, the question is, is Verstappen really eyeing a huge pay at Red Bull? Well, not at all, according to two of his confidants. They both alleged that Marko’s statement was quite redundant.

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Advertising man Lodewijk Varossieau, while interacting with Formule1, revealed that he’s known Verstappen since his childhood days and money was never a primary issue for the Red Bull driver.

“Max is not concerned with that at all. That’s a real sportsman. He’s very pure. But I do think that he will become the most successful sportsman ever in the Netherlands, in the ranks of Johan Cruijff. Not only financially but also commercially. He’s just really cool,” he said.

Meanwhile, Frank van den Wall Bake, another close colleague of the 2021 world champion, reckoned that Verstappen is already rich and his ambitions are now entirely about winning more titles.

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“Max is already insanely rich,” Van den Wall Bake said. “He has only one ambition. And that is what is nice about Max: He wants to race and become world champion. And that he earns well with that is wonderful. But, that’s it.”

Overall, the duo’s opinions suggest that Red Bull’s soon-to-happen contract negotiation with Verstappen should be an easy journey. So, will Verstappen, whose contract is set to end by 2023, manage to extend it until the end of 2025?

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