Max Verstappen has said he is committed to seeing out his Red Bull contract and insisted he is still happy at the team after weeks of off-track turmoil surrounding the Formula One champions.
Verstappen, the reigning and three-time world champion, is signed until 2028 but suggested at the last race in Saudi Arabia he would consider leaving if Red Bull parted company with long-time mentor Helmut Marko in a power struggle threatening to envelop the team.
It followed his father Jos claiming earlier this month that Red Bull faced being "torn apart" if team principal Christian Horner remained in his position.
Horner was accused of inappropriate conduct involving a woman colleague but he was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing ahead of the season-opener in Bahrain.
Asked at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne if he would honour his contract, Verstappen replied: "Of course, that is why I signed the contract in the first place. For sure, with the deal in place, that is my intention, to be here until the end.
"It would be a great story for me to see it out until the end because it would mean I've been part of one family and one team. I always felt comfortable (in Red Bull) because for me it is like a second family, it's good."
Verstappen's career has been overseen by Marko, 80, and the 26-year-old Dutchman reiterated that it was important to keep in place a team that has enjoyed so much success.
"I feel we all want the same, we all want to perform on the track, that's what we want to focus on as a team," he said. "In general, when you have a successful team, when you have a good group of central people, it is important to keep them together and happy and in the same roles."
His veiled threat to leave Red Bull piqued the interest of Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who needs a replacement next season when Lewis Hamilton departs for Ferrari.
"It's always nice to hear that," said Verstappen, who added that he did not know what would happen after 2028. "I don't know after 2028 what happens, if I am going to continue, sign a new deal, I don't know."
Verstappen dominated the first two grands prix of the season, in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, to put him on a nine-race win streak. Should he cross the finish line first in Australia, he will equal his own record of winning 10 races in a row.
Sergio Perez, who finished runner-up to his teammate in the opening two races, said he hoped Verstappen remained, with the team in "a very strong position".
"To achieve that it takes a lot of years," he said. "Everyone in the team is working well together now, the whole engineering team is united. You can see that on the track and how efficient we have been in the last years.
"So I don't see any reason to change it and it will obviously be a blow if Max were to leave."
Sainz 'positive' about Ferrari return
Red Bull's leading challenge so far this season has come from Ferrari, with Carlos Sainz completing the podium in Bahrain before Charles Leclerc finished third in Saudi Arabia.
Sainz was forced to miss the race in Jeddah, where teenage reserve driver Oliver Bearman came seventh, after undergoing surgery for appendicitis two weeks ago.
Sainz, who is leaving Ferrari at the end of the season to be replaced by Hamilton, said he was improving by the day, having spent the last fortnight in recovery rather than training.
"Every day I'm feeling a lot better, the first week was tough. That was when you see things a bit darker," he said ahead of Sunday's Australian Grand Prix.
"But in the second week the recovery sped up a lot and I started to feel confident I can jump in the car tomorrow and do well. I'll see how I feel, I'm feeling positive about it."
While Sainz has been given the all-clear from doctors and is keen to race, it is not clear how his body will react to the demands of Formula One.
"I'll let you know tomorrow when I get back in the car and the G-forces throw me around a bit," he said, referring to first practice in Melbourne on Friday.
"But I feel ready. I've done as much as possible to recover and you cannot imagine the effort and logistics that I have done to be fit for this race.
"I'm very happy with the progress I've made and now, as I said, it's time to jump in the car and see how I feel."
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
If you go
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Funchal via Lisbon, with a connecting flight with Air Portugal. Economy class returns cost from Dh3,845 return including taxes.
The trip
The WalkMe app can be downloaded from the usual sources. If you don’t fancy doing the trip yourself, then Explore offers an eight-day levada trails tour from Dh3,050, not including flights.
The hotel
There isn’t another hotel anywhere in Madeira that matches the history and luxury of the Belmond Reid's Palace in Funchal. Doubles from Dh1,400 per night including taxes.
HWJN
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MATCH INFO
Barcelona 5 (Lenglet 2', Vidal 29', Messi 34', 75', Suarez 77')
Valladolid 1 (Kiko 15')
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Iraq negotiating over Iran sanctions impact
- US sanctions on Iran’s energy industry and exports took effect on Monday, November 5.
- Washington issued formal waivers to eight buyers of Iranian oil, allowing them to continue limited imports. Iraq did not receive a waiver.
- Iraq’s government is cooperating with the US to contain Iranian influence in the country, and increased Iraqi oil production is helping to make up for Iranian crude that sanctions are blocking from markets, US officials say.
- Iraq, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumped last month at a record 4.78 million barrels a day, former Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said on Oct. 20. Iraq exported 3.83 million barrels a day last month, according to tanker tracking and data from port agents.
- Iraq has been working to restore production at its northern Kirkuk oil field. Kirkuk could add 200,000 barrels a day of oil to Iraq’s total output, Hook said.
- The country stopped trucking Kirkuk oil to Iran about three weeks ago, in line with U.S. sanctions, according to four people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because they aren’t allowed to speak to media.
- Oil exports from Iran, OPEC’s third-largest supplier, have slumped since President Donald Trump announced in May that he’d reimpose sanctions. Iran shipped about 1.76 million barrels a day in October out of 3.42 million in total production, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
- Benchmark Brent crude fell 47 cents to $72.70 a barrel in London trading at 7:26 a.m. local time. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was 25 cents lower at $62.85 a barrel in New York. WTI held near the lowest level in seven months as concerns of a tightening market eased after the U.S. granted its waivers to buyers of Iranian crude.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
- Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
- Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
SCORES IN BRIEF
New Zealand 153 and 56 for 1 in 22.4 overs at close
Pakistan 227
(Babar 62, Asad 43, Boult 4-54, De Grandhomme 2-30, Patel 2-64)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
