That said exit clause is reported to be that Verstappen can leave the team if he is lower than fourth in the drivers’ championship by the F1 summer break, following the next two races in Belgium and Hungary.

Jos Verstappen is not known to be a patient man. The length of time it took Red Bull to sack Christian Horner after last year’s ‘sexting’ scandal must have felt like an eternity for the Briton’s arch-nemesis.