F1 champion Max Verstappen's £10 million Red Bull bonus revealed

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen's £10 million Red Bull bonus revealed

Max Verstappen has made the best of a difficult start to the year with Red Bull

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Wednesday 30 April 2025 19:57

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Red Bull have been handed a £10 million bonus by having Max Verstappen as their star driver, according to one former team boss.

Despite a difficult start to the season for Red Bull, Verstappen remains in the championship fight and is only 12 points behind the leader Oscar Piastri in the drivers’ standings.

In a discussion with Sport1 about Verstappen’s abilities, former AlphaTauri (Racing Bulls) team principal Franz Tost claimed that the champion’s speed is worth £10 million of car development in what he brings to Red Bull.

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“Max Verstappen would win even with a tractor! For example, last year Max did a test with a Ferrari GT race car,” he said.

“He was immediately two seconds faster than the rest. Max has a feel for speed, incredible vision, incredible vehicle control, and an incredible feel for a car – no matter which one.

“He would therefore immediately get along with any Formula 1 car. Of course, he will then fine-tune the car to best suit his driving style.

When asked the equivalent cost to Verstappen in terms of development, Tost continued: “You can't usually achieve a step like that with an update. Unless you happen to find a miracle component. It usually takes a very long time to make your car 0.3 seconds faster per lap. Over the course of a year, that costs 10 million. At least.”

Can Verstappen win the title with Red Bull this year?

Verstappen’s abilities have allowed him to transform a terrible start to the 2025 season for Red Bull into an acceptable one for himself, where he has enjoyed a race win, two pole positions and three podium finishes.

In fact, Verstappen’s lowest finishing position in 2025 has been P6 which, in contrast to his two team-mates this year, has helped to mask just how far Red Bull have fallen, whilst further proving Tost’s comments above.

To put Verstappen's results into context, his former team-mate Liam Lawson failed to finish in the top ten with Red Bull during his only two races in Australia and China.

Whilst Yuki Tsunoda has demonstrated better pace in the RB21 he could be closer to Verstappen, with his best finishing position with Red Bull thus far being in P9.

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Red Bull Max Verstappen Ferrari Oscar Piastri Franz Tost