ZANDVOORT, Netherlands — Max Verstappen’s decision to sign a new Red Bull contract through to the end of 2030 has put an end to one of the biggest Formula 1 storylines this year.

Red Bull announced on Thursday that Verstappen, 28, had agreed a new deal, extending the four-time world champion’s stint at the team that started back in 2016.

Verstappen’s previous deal ran through to the end of 2028, yet he was subject to persistent links to a possible move away, be it to Mercedes, McLaren or — in the early part of this year — from F1 altogether, given his dissatisfaction with the new cars.

So why did Verstappen decide to stay put? How close did he get to joining another team or leaving F1 altogether? And what’s different in this deal compared to his old one?

Here are the key answers in the wake of Verstappen’s new Red Bull deal.

Why did Verstappen choose to stay at Red Bull?

Verstappen used the word “family” on multiple occasions when talking about his relationship to Red Bull on Thursday. The team is all that he has ever known in F1, and it has been the environment in which he has thrived. Beyond all the on-track success, the race and title wins, he has enjoyed working with the people around him.

A lot has changed at Red Bull in recent years. A lot of the key figures involved in Verstappen’s first title triumphs departed the team, and GianPiero Lambiase, his race engineer who is one of the most vital ‘pillars’ to the Dutchman, is set to join McLaren in the next 18 months.

Verstappen said there had been “very open discussions” with Red Bull about its plans and expressed his faith in the roadmap. “Yes, people have left, but at the same time you’re looking at new talent and bringing other people in,” Verstappen said. “That’s what we’re doing.”

Before Dietrich Mateschitz, the founder of Red Bull, died in 2022, Verstappen told him that he planned to see out his F1 career at the team. It’s a fact that still rings true. “There’s still a lot of years ahead, but that’s still the target,” said Verstappen.

Red Bull is the only team Verstappen has known in F1 (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Seeing out his entire F1 career in a Red Bull family where he feels comfortable and, importantly, he also has allowances to explore other avenues that excite him, particularly his GT racing exploits, would be ideal for Verstappen.

But what he’ll really need to stay completely happy is a quick car. Red Bull has struggled to challenge at the very front for much of this year, arguably only giving Verstappen one chance, in Austria, to even fight for victory.

Yet Verstappen has faith in Red Bull to get back into championship contention, a belief that has not been shaken by the start of this year.

“I have the belief in the people — that we can get back to the top,” Verstappen said. “Time will tell. That’s what we are targeting. I still want to win races. I’m hungry to win more.”

And what about quitting F1 altogether?

This was a very real possibility. As Verstappen pointed out, “I think I was closer to retiring than changing teams.”

It’s no secret that the Dutchman has been unhappy with this set of technical regulations. After the opening races this season, Verstappen told Laurent Mekies, “Don’t come to me with any kind of questions about the future because I don’t even know if I want to stay,” he recalled Thursday with a laugh.

“We always kept it very open,” Verstappen continued. “I love racing, and I think I had a lot of very good discussions with F1, but also with the FIA, and I think we are, let’s say, slowly working towards something that becomes better and better.”

Verstappen still isn’t thrilled with the current state of F1. He’s reached a point where he has adapted and accepted “the situation that I think we’re all in, and just trying to make the best of that.” But as he pointed out, extending his contract to 2030 puts him in another era of technical regulations, one in which there have been suggestions that the sport could return to V8 engines as soon as 2030.

“This is still the pinnacle of motorsport,” he later said. “So I still want to be here.”

Did Verstappen consider other teams?

Over the years, there have been rumblings that Verstappen’s camp was speaking to other teams, the most recent being Mercedes last season and McLaren this year. George Russell noted during Thursday’s FIA news conference that “It was always very clear from within Mercedes what the reality was over these past couple of years” and how this is the nature of F1.

“Drivers talk with different teams, teams talk with different drivers. Everyone has to just see what their cards are.”

Verstappen ultimately didn’t feel the need to switch to a rival. Red Bull is his family, something he reiterated numerous times on Thursday at Zandvoort.

“I think it would be a great story if that would be possible: being picked up by Red Bull and finishing your career within one team,” Verstappen said.

Sometimes, drivers have wanted a new challenge and opted to switch teams. But for the Dutchman, he doesn’t “feel the need to change just to change, and I don’t necessarily need to drive in another color.” He joked that his “favorite color is blue, so that helps,” a nod to Red Bull’s main color.

“If I feel well within the team here, why should I?” Verstappen said at one point. “Because I know that they do everything for me, and they know that I do everything for them once I’m on the track and trying to get the results.”

How serious were the McLaren rumors?

Mercedes may have been the subject of the most consistent links to Verstappen in recent years, but it was McLaren that became the team in the headlines about his future earlier this season.

It emerged ahead of the Austrian GP weekend that Verstappen’s management had engaged in a conversation with McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown to discuss the future.

Brown said at Silverstone that the talks “didn’t go anywhere” given he has existing drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri under long-term contracts. But the fact they even took place looked to be a sign that Verstappen was chatting to McLaren as an option was of interest.

It is believed that the McLaren talks didn’t progress very far (Giuseppe CACACE / AFP via Getty Images)

It wasn’t the first time there had been some engagement between the Verstappen camp and McLaren. It’s wise and natural for drivers and teams to gauge the lay of the land of what the coming years may look like with the driver market.

Sources have indicated to The Athletic, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect relationships, that there was never a serious push for a Verstappen/McLaren link-up for 2027.

McLaren was always clear publicly that it had both Norris and Piastri locked in, while Verstappen said he never felt the desire to explore alternatives. Both sides are happy with where they’re at, yet that doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth having a conversation to get a read on each other’s plans.

What does his contract entail?

Exit clauses within Verstappen’s contract have been a hot topic in recent years whenever the rumor mill began heating up on whether he would remain with Red Bull. Performance-related criteria would have allowed him to potentially leave before the end of his contract if he was outside a certain position in the drivers’ championship — believed this year to be the top two — at a trigger point in the season.

Verstappen declined to comment on whether the new deal contained any exit clauses when asked at the FIA news conference on Thursday. “I’ve never disclosed anything in my contract,” he said. “So yeah, that stays the same.”

But seated next to him was former Red Bull teammate and current Cadillac driver Sergio Pérez, who had a smile on his face, trying to convince Verstappen to tell the room more, throwing in “for me!” Verstappen laughed, saying, “You know, Checo, I’ll tell you after.”

The Dutchman and Red Bull have been tight-lipped about the details of the deal. Salary and financial details weren’t publicly shared. Still, it is likely Verstappen enjoyed a decent uplift compared to the terms of his previous contract, announced in early 2022, back when he was a one-time world champion and F1 as a whole was not quite the commercial beast it is today.

Verstappen and Red Bull have yet to record a win this season (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

The presence of performance-related clauses is common in F1 driver contracts nowadays, making it logical that they would remain in some form for Verstappen’s new deal. Yet such is the strength of their relationship, as both sides stressed on Thursday, that Verstappen and Red Bull would hope they never need to be triggered.

Even when asked in general if the contract was different from the previous one, Mekies said, “We are here today telling you guys that we are committing to each other, the team and Max, to the end of 2030. I think that the substance, everything else, is our business.”

What does this confirmation mean for Red Bull?

Mekies described the deal as being a “demonstration of trust” by Verstappen in Red Bull. Despite the moments of justified frustration over the performance of the car or the reliability issues, there is still an underlying belief that this is the best place for him to be an F1 driver and to win the races and titles he covets.

Had Red Bull lost Verstappen, the driver around whom its F1 efforts have largely revolved for the best part of the last decade, it would have been a huge blow. Not only does it have a driver who stands out as the greatest of his generation and one of the greatest of all time, but it also has an energizing force for the entire Red Bull team.

There will of course be pressure on Red Bull to deliver a car that gives Verstappen the chance to do what he does best. But with him as the ‘north star’ guiding its efforts, the team has retained its biggest asset, which will help it to become a championship-winning team again.

“It’s a massive stability element; it’s a massive ambition element,” said Mekies. “Everybody understands that everything else that you have settled is only with that single objective: to win.”

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford dropped back against the New Orleans Saints’ starting defense and again went looking for No. 17. With how this practice was going, he just knew Davante Adams would find a way to get open.

And Adams did, cutting sharp on a deep post route to a spot around the left hashmarks where he settled in and waited for a laser, like he’s come to expect in this growing relationship with the reigning MVP. Stafford split two defenders with the throw — a cornerback giving chase, a deep safety crashing down — and Adams leaped off his feet and snared the ball before landing and sprinting into the end zone.

Stafford and Adams excelled against the Saints defense in a joint practice on Thursday at the Rams’ facility in Woodland Hills, Calif. They connected for two touchdowns, including a trademark Stafford fade ball that Adams ran comfortably underneath along the right sideline for an easy score. They connected on crossers into the flats and slants across the middle.

With Puka Nacua not practicing due to a psoas injury he continues to manage, no one was left wondering who the go-to receiver on the Rams would be. Adams and Stafford have shown off a smooth and adjustable connection all training camp, and though Adams has had a few drops in earlier practices, the precision has shown two vital pieces to the Rams’ offensive attack this season: Stafford and Adams still have it, even at the ages of 38 and 33, respectively.

And now, they have chemistry outside of the red zone.

“No matter how great you are, you’ve got two great players. You’ve got to be able to get those reps, and repetition is the mother of learning,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “They’ve got a great feel. I think today was a really good day for those guys being able to connect against tight, sticky coverage. It’s been awesome, but they’re two outstanding people, outstanding players, and it’s really fun to watch them take some ownership and even just be a fly on the wall and listen to their dialogue and what they’re thinking. I love what I’ve seen from those guys.”

A year ago, none of this was possible. Adams was the new piece after signing a free-agent deal to replace Cooper Kupp, and Stafford wasn’t practicing at all with a back issue that was threatening the start of his 17th season. Their reps in training camp were nearly nonexistent, and the two didn’t play in the preseason, leaving real games with results on the line as the time to build the timing, feel and connection that live reps are designed to create.

That led to a naturally clunky start to Adams’ 12th season. Through his first six games, he was averaging just 4.3 receptions per game on a career-worst 47.3 percent catch rate. Nacua was prolific enough to make up for it, but the two knew they needed to build something more to help the offense reach its full potential.

They drilled down in a week in Baltimore with Nacua hurt and rolled out a new role for Adams against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, where he played as the single wide receiver with three tight ends on the field and scored three touchdowns. Then he scored eight more times to finish with a league-best 14 receiving touchdowns as the Rams led the NFL in scoring and Stafford was named league MVP.

But Adams’ season felt a bit inconsistent and less whole than normal, as he finished with 60 catches for 789 yards, his lowest totals in any season since 2015. With Adams turning 34 in December and in a contract year, the Rams explored the idea this offseason of trading him for a younger receiver in A.J. Brown. But they decided against it once McVay dove into Adams’ film and saw more to tap into, hoping his connection with Stafford would continue to grow with training camp reps.

It might require Adams to say healthier than he did last year, when he missed three games and battled lower-body injuries all season long. That’s the challenge for a 33-year-old in a speed-based role in a collision sport. But Thursday’s practice was a glimpse of what still remains in the tank.

Terrance Ferguson, CJ Daniels get their run

With Nacua out, the door opened for younger receivers to see targets and to make their cases to be reliable weapons in an offense that needs one to emerge beyond Nacua and Adams.

The busiest of them was Ferguson. He scored two touchdowns in the red zone, including one where he caught the ball in the flats on the left side and outran the defense.

He executed mostly short routes, a departure from the late-season breakout he enjoyed as a rookie to finish with an average of 21 yards per catch on 11 receptions. The Rams are expanding Ferguson’s route tree now that he’s more comfortable in a playbook that’s committing to the three-tight end approach the Rams largely devised at midseason last year, and he’s spent this offseason trimming body fat to increase that wiggle out of breaks.

By getting the ball to Ferguson more quickly, the Rams can exploit a mismatch with his 6-foot-5, 252-pound frame against linebackers rather than safeties, hoping those safeties are busy enough watching for Stafford’s deep connections with Adams and Nacua on opposite perimeters.

“Coming in (last year), I never expected to play the positions I’m playing,” Ferguson said. “Being able to play F, Z, Y and X, all of them together, it’s definitely been a big jump. … They ask me to do a lot of things down the field but then also be reliable on the line of scrimmage. It’s about finding that happy medium.”

Daniels also saw some chances with the first team as he rotated reps with Konata Mumpfield and Jordan Whittington. He didn’t have as active a day catching the ball, but it was a step up from the second-team usage he’s primarily seen this camp.

Stetson Bennett, Ty Simpson trade QB2 reps

As the Rams continue to try to solidify the backup quarterback role that Jimmy Garoppolo no longer holds, they have once more leaned into giving even chances to Simpson and Bennett. They ran 25 plays with the second team, with Bennett taking 13 snaps and Simpson 12. It continues a recent shift from earlier in camp, when Bennett worked almost exclusively as the next quarterback up after Stafford.

Both had mixed days. Bennett struggled again with his deep ball but kept it out of harm’s way. Simpson threw two interceptions, including one where he didn’t see a safety playing center field and the ball fluttered out of his hands. Simpson and Bennett both threw touchdowns in the red zone period.

Bennett enjoyed a strong start to camp, with high completion rates and strong plays out of structure but also with the occasional turnover. He hasn’t looked as comfortable over the past week, which could be related in part to the lack of a flow he gets into when splitting reps with Simpson, who has come a long way in his command of a complex playbook.

One of the challenges both quarterbacks face is the protection they’re trying to play behind with the second unit. The Rams are down two of their backup offensive linemen, as top backup guard Justin Dedich worked out off to the side again with the hand injury he’s had since early July and third-round rookie tackle Keagen Trost out with the hamstring he hurt in Saturday’s preseason opener.

McVay said the hope is to get Trost back for the season opener against the San Francisco 49ers. If he can’t, David Quessenberry will serve as the swing tackle. He’s been working primarily as the backup left tackle to Alaric Jackson, who could face a second suspension under the league’s personal conduct policy. Quessenberry last started a game in 2023 and will turn 36 on Monday.

The Rams have begun rotating offensive linemen with the first team in order to get more advanced looks at the second team. But McVay continues to express confidence in the plan and operation.

“I really felt good with the depth we had at tackle,” McVay said. “Obviously, you get a little bit thinned out when you felt good about those four guys, if you include Keagen into it. But we’ve got some other guys that we’re going to continue to evaluate. … We’ll just take it a day at a time.”

EAGAN, Minn. — At one point, flames felt possible.

It was Thursday afternoon at the TCO Performance Center, and here came Minnesota Vikings edge rusher Dallas Turner once again. The 2024 first-round pick blasted around the edge with so much speed that he looked powered by octane.

For the second straight day in joint practices against the Baltimore Ravens, Turner turnstiled Pro Bowl tackle Ronnie Stanley. His lengthy arms caused problems. His relentlessness made second efforts effective. His output generated so much noise on one of the practice fields that, every now and then, coaches and players peered over to see what caused the commotion.

Turner’s teammates gushed about him. Second-year defensive lineman Elijah Williams described Turner as an intimidating presence on the field. Another second-year defensive lineman, Ty Ingram-Dawkins, speculated about an award-worthy type of season.

“Man,” veteran Vikings cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. said. “To see how big of a jump it’s been … and how fast he’s playing … It’s going to be a special year.”

The Vikings need that to be the case. They traded talented edge rusher Jonathan Greenard in April to the Philadelphia Eagles. His departure left the cupboard otherwise bare at the position. And even though defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ system deploys blitzes to make pockets chaotic, certain defensive situations require edge rushers to win.

Turner provided glimpses of his potential in the final eight weeks of 2025. With Greenard out with an injured shoulder, the Vikings asked Turner to play the more traditional edge-rushing role in Flores’ defense. It unlocked more production than at any point in Turner’s young career. He recorded 6.5 sacks over those final eight games (he totaled eight on the season) and held up versus the run on the edge.

Trading Greenard signaled an internal belief that Turner’s trajectory would continue to point upward.

Hope, though, doesn’t come with any guarantees. That’s why these two days from Turner warrant attention. Satisfaction from one sack didn’t prevent him from tornadoing his way to the quarterback for another. His standard seems to be rising with his responsibility.

“I just think he’s not complacent at all,” Ingram-Dawkins said. “He always wants to grow. That’s going to show this year on the field.”

Turner’s showing was perhaps the most important storyline of these joint practices, at least among those unrelated to the quarterbacks. Here are some other nuggets that stood out:

Undrafted rookie Jacob Thomas establishing early trust

Safety may be the most interesting position group on the Vikings. For one thing, Flores asks his safeties to initiate the communication on defense. The uncertainty surrounding Harrison Smith’s future adds to the intrigue.

Losing Jamal Adams to a torn quad affected the team’s depth. Third-round pick Jakobe Thomas hasn’t practiced fully in recent weeks due to back stiffness. On Thursday, safety Theo Jackson left practice early with a leg injury. Fortunately, Jacob Thomas, an undrafted rookie from James Madison, has emerged as a viable option.

The former high school quarterback impressed the Vikings staff this spring with his smarts. Flores’ defense is notoriously complex, especially for safeties. But Thomas absorbed most of it with ease.

“His IQ is just different,” Murphy said. “He’s just one of those guys who is very smart. You can tell.”

Fellow safety Jay Ward singled out this trait: “He can get us into the next call. He plays fast and furious. You can count on him.”

Thomas nearly intercepted Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson in an early red zone sequence Thursday. Just as impressively, when Jackson left the field, the Vikings tossed Thomas into the mix with the starters and maintained their defensive dominance.

Asking him to play significant snaps from the beginning of the season feels lofty. But the idea that the Vikings may have found another future contributor in undrafted free agency speaks to their sharp identification process.

Best of the rest

• Minnesota’s passing game had more success Thursday. Quarterback Kyler Murray connected with Jauan Jennings on a deep ball down the right sideline in an 11-on-11 period. He also threaded a pass in rhythm to superstar receiver Justin Jefferson over the middle.

Some of the Ravens’ disguised coverages bothered the Vikings’ timing. The physicality of Baltimore cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins also kept Minnesota from more consistent hits downfield.

Still, the day-to-day growth matters. The arc is eerily similar to former starter Sam Darnold’s progression during training camp in 2024.

• After a disappointing day on the ground Wednesday, multiple Vikings offensive linemen felt better about the way they adjusted and adapted on Thursday. Running back Jordan Mason squeezed through pockets with ease. Rookie running back Demond Claiborne blurred around the right side for a touchdown.

• As much as Turner is deserving of praise, Murphy singled out Ingram-Dawkins as another Vikings defender who has made a leap. Ingram-Dawkins returned this spring in exceptional shape. His ability to line up on the interior and the edge offers the type of versatility Flores covets. He figures to play a meaningful role while rookies Caleb Banks and Domonique Orange find their footing.

• Every fall, Vikings legends visit the TCO Performance Center for practices. But rarely does Randy Moss make an appearance.

His presence Wednesday and Thursday mattered under normal circumstances, but Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell revealed Thursday that Moss had also spent time in the receivers’ meeting room. Moss sat next to second-year wideout Myles Price. He offered tidbits to Jefferson and Jordan Addison.

The Vikings always value Moss’ presence, but this level of participation indicates a deepening of the relationship between the franchise and one of its pillars.