Checkered Weekend: Verstappen MEGA-Contract, Austin Hill Gets Full-Time Cup Ride, Rockingham Could Change Hands & Ligier Announces LMP2 Customers

Max Verstappen makes history off the track. RCR made its 2027 Cup plans official. Rockingham Speedway's future is uncertain again. And a new era of LMP2 competition took its first concrete step forward. Here is the weekend in motorsport.

Verstappen Commits to Red Bull Through 2030

The speculation is over. Max Verstappen has signed a contract extension with Red Bull Racing through the end of the 2030 season, removing any possibility of a move to Mercedes, McLaren, or anywhere else for the foreseeable future.

The announcement was made Thursday at Zandvoort ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, Verstappen's home race, and it brought to a close 18 months of near-constant rumors about where the four-time world champion would drive next. His previous contract ran through 2028 but contained performance-based exit clauses that had kept the paddock guessing. Those clauses are now irrelevant.

The financial scale of the commitment is worth noting. Reports suggest Verstappen's base salary could reach around €92 million per year from 2027, potentially rising to approximately €115 million with performance bonuses. Red Bull has not confirmed those figures, but if accurate the four-year extension could represent a package approaching €460 million in total. Whatever the exact number, this is one of the biggest contracts in the history of the sport. And will make him the 7th highest paid athlete in the world behind the likes of Lionel Messi, Lebron James (goat), and Shohei Ohtani.

Verstappen has not had an easy 2026. He finished second in the championship behind Lando Norris in 2025 and has yet to win a race this season. He has been one of the loudest critics of F1's new electrified hybrid regulations, describing the cars as "anti-racing" and at various points hinting at retirement. But his public frustration appears to have run its course. Ahead of the summer break he said he was tired of complaining about the cars, and Thursday's announcement suggests he has found enough reason to commit to the long haul.

"I am really pleased with the contract extension," Verstappen said. "We have the best people and I'm excited to keep working together with everyone to get back to the top again. Getting to work with Laurent now for over a year has also been great. I see a clear vision he has for the team."

Team principal Laurent Mekies, who took charge of Red Bull last July following Christian Horner's departure, will see the extension as a significant endorsement of the direction he is taking the organization. The team has lost several senior figures in recent years including Mekies' predecessor, chief designer Rob Marshall, and race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, who departs for McLaren no later than 2028. Keeping Verstappen removes the one question that mattered most.

The extension also fits a broader trend of long-term driver commitments across the top of the grid. Charles Leclerc is signed at Ferrari through the 2030s. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are both contracted to McLaren through the end of the decade. Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon both extended at Williams. The driver market for 2027will be quieter than ones in the past. Verstappen has 71 race victories, placing him third on the all-time winners list, and four world championships, all with Red Bull.

Austin Hill Confirmed Full-Time at RCR for 2027

Richard Childress Racing officially announced this week that Austin Hill will drive the No. 33 Chevrolet full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2027, completing a transition that began under difficult circumstances earlier this season.

Hill stepped into the car following the death of Kyle Busch in May, taking over what had been renumbered from the No. 8 out of respect for Busch's legacy. He has been running double duty since, competing for the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series championship while also handling Cup weekends. His best Cup result to date is a ninth-place finish at the 2025 Chicago Street Course race.

The 32-year-old has spent five seasons full-time in the O'Reilly Series with RCR, winning 16 races including his very first start with the organization in 2022. He also has eight Truck Series wins to his name from his time with Hattori Racing Enterprises.

"Every race car driver dreams of competing full time in the NASCAR Cup Series, and to have that opportunity with RCR is something I don't take for granted," Hill said. "I've learned so much this year about what it takes to compete at this level, and I'm excited to take everything I've learned and apply it to this next chapter."

With Hill moving to Cup and O'Reilly Series teammate Jesse Love also stepping up to the Cup Series with Wood Brothers Racing for 2027, RCR will need to fill both of its junior series seats for next season.

Rockingham Speedway Could Be Changing Hands

Rockingham Speedway may be heading for another ownership change, and the timeline could be short. The Rock was absent from the 2027 NASCAR schedule released this week, dropping out of the O'Reilly and Truck Series rotation after hosting both in each of the past two seasons. The IHRA, which currently owns the track, has been dealing with financial instability, and Track Enterprises president Bob Sargent told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that he has already been in conversations about a potential acquisition and believes movement is close. "I think something will be done in the next 30 to 60 days as far as the property itself," Sargent said. "From everybody that I speak to in his group, I think there is an urgency to get this done."

Sargent indicated Track Enterprises was prepared to move quickly if the opportunity arose and had personnel and plans ready to go. Rockingham has a complicated history with NASCAR, having been dropped from the Cup Series schedule in 2004, briefly returning for Truck Series races in the mid-2010s, and only recently coming back into the national series rotation.

Ligier Names First Customers for Next-Gen LMP2 Car

Ligier has announced the first three teams that will campaign its new JS P228 when next-generation LMP2 regulations come into effect in 2028, with Algarve Pro Racing, Inter Europol Competition, and Panis Competition all confirming their commitments.

All three organizations previously ran the current Ligier JS P217 before Oreca's near-total dominance of the LMP2 class effectively made the Oreca 07 the only competitive option. The 07 has been so dominant that it has been four years since a non-Oreca car raced at Le Mans in the LMP2 class, with the JS P217's final appearance coming in 2022.

The new regulations, which overhaul the LMP2 framework for the first time since 2017, designate only Ligier and Oreca as approved chassis suppliers, reducing the field from four manufacturers to two. The intent is to create genuine competition between the two brands rather than the effectively spec formula the class became under the previous rules.

Inter Europol, one of the three confirmed Ligier customers, won the LMP2 class at Le Mans this year for the second consecutive season, doing so with the Oreca 07. The JS P228 will make its debut in the European Le Mans Series and at Le Mans itself in 2028, with IMSA eligibility following in 2029.

"Seeing three teams of this calibre choose the Ligier JS P228 is a tremendous recognition of the work carried out by everyone at Ligier Automotive," said company president Jacques Nicolet.