The potential Max Verstappen to Mercedes F1 drama, explained

USA Today

3 days ago

The F1 summer break may be anything but relaxing for Mercedes and Red Bull this year.
Two of the top four teams in the Constructor standings are battling off the track once again, this time for the services of four-time World Champion Max Verstappen. As Red Bull driver's team continues to struggle on the track — most recently with a disaster of a home race at the Red Bull Ring in Austria —rumors of Verstappen leaving Red Bull for one of its biggest rivals are heating up.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes he'll have his 2026 driver lineup set by the end of summer break. He's already confirmed his interest in adding Verstappen. That leaves current Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli in complete limbo during F1's silly season.
Here's how we got here and everything we know about the situation so far.
Why would Max Verstappen leave Red Bull?
Yeah, it's best to start with the most obvious question here.
Verstappen has been Red Bull's Golden Boy for a decade now. After bursting onto the scene in 2015 as the youngest driver to ever start an F1 race, while with for Red Bull's sister team — then known as Toro Rosso — the son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen has been one of the sport's hottest commodities, winning four straight drivers titles from 2021-2024.
But the 2025 campaign has been more challenging than anyone could've expected. That's partly because McLaren has far and away the best cars on the track this year, and partly because Red Bull's car is simply not up to standard.
It seems like every time Max is on the track lately he's complaining about the car being "undrivable". It's not just a problem with Verstappen's car, either. Red Bull's second seat has cycled through multiple drivers the last few years and still faces major issues. Verstappen's current teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, hasn't finished better than 10th in any race this season. And that's after Red Bull swapped in Yuki for Liam Lawson.
So, Red Bull's car is a massive problem that won't be resolved any time soon. If Verstappen is going to maximize his prime, his best option might be to get out of a contract that has him locked in with Red Bull until 2028.
How Max Verstappen could break his Red Bull contract
Red Bull is likely to fight as hard as it can to retain Verstappen, but ultimately Max's contract is a bit easy to break out of, as Sky Sports notes:
Verstappen has a clause in his contract that will allow him to leave Red Bull after this season in the scenario he is not in the top four of the Drivers' Championship at the start of the F1 summer break, which follows the Hungarian Grand Prix on August 3.
Verstappen is currently third in the standings, nine points ahead of Russell and 36 points in front of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc with three rounds until the summer break. A maximum of 83 points can be won across those three events, with Belgium being a Sprint weekend."
Following the Austria Grand Prix — which saw Verstappen forced to retire after a collision with Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli on Lap 1 — here's how things look with the drivers standings:
Given how Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren have performed recently, it wouldn't be a surprise if Max and Red Bull continue tumbling down the table. Especially considering the usually aggressive Verstappen has to avoid accumulating penalty points or risk a suspension.
That's all the opening Wolff and Mercedes need to poach the 27-year-old.
Aren't Verstappen and Red Bull massive rivals with Mercedes?
They sure are!
The delicious messiness of Formula One drama never ceases to amaze. Verstappen previously had an intense rivalry with then-Mercedes champion driver Lewis Hamilton from 2016-2023 as the two battled for world titles. Now Verstappen finds himself in an ongoing tangle with Mercedes' top driver George Russell.
Add to that the fact Mercedes drives and Verstappen have collided with each other over the last few races, throw in a dash of public tampering and you've got a wildly combustible situation.
What about the current Mercedes drivers?
George Russell's contract is up after this year. Many assumed a new deal would be struck following his emphatic victory at the Canadian Grad Prix, but no decision has been made yet. Antonelli is on a one-year deal — though certain performance results can reportedly trigger an extension.
Wolff has previously said Antonelli "will probably need a three-year program. That's how long a young driver needs to challenge a more experienced and faster teammate. But we would never have entrusted the seat to a driver who we don't consider a potential world champion."
The 18-year-old who joined Mercedes following Hamilton's departure for Ferrari earned his first podium in Canada.
What has Mercedes' Toto Wolff said about the Verstappen pursuit?
Per ESPN:
Wolff has insisted that his monitoring of the Verstappen situation has no bearing on his ongoing discussions with Russell. Speaking after Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix, Wolff said he wants the situation around Russell resolved during the four-week break.
"You need to be respectable towards the stakeholders in all of that process," he said. "The organization, the drivers, everybody. You need to understand the way forward.
"And I don't want to be sadistic in letting a driver wait or not taking any decisions when it should be taken. So I feel we're in a good space. We're [in] June.
"Obviously there's lots of discussions around. I've been open with it and transparent. And at a certain stage in the next couple of months -- until the summer break, we need to know. Until the summer break, everything is going to be done."
What has Red Bull's Christian Horner said about Mercedes' pursuit of Verstappen?
Here's what Horner told Sky Sports F1 in Austria:
'It is a lot of noise, and I think Max gets quite annoyed by it. We are very clear with the contract we have with Max until 2028. Anything is entirely speculative that has been said. We tend to not pay too much attention to it.
'I can imagine George is frustrated that he hasn't been given a contract yet, but that's between him and his team. The situation with Max – we know clearly where we are at, as does Max. Everything is subject to noise and obviously within the contract remains confidential to the two parties.'
What does Mercedes' pursuit of Verstappen mean for the rest of the F1 grid?
Normally when three drivers are battling for two seats, there's the possibility of one getting booted from the grid entirely. That may not be the case this year. With Cadillac joining F1 as the eleventh team next season, there are two new seats becoming available.
So even if Antonelli or Russell end up losing their spot at Mercedes after this season, it doesn't mean they are out of options. In fact, there are more lineup possibilities than ever for 2026.