Much has been written about Formula One’s hottest driver rumour this year, with ‘Max to Merc’ dominating the headlines for some months. The at the final race weekend before the summer break, Verstappen ended his silence on the matter and the speculation by committing himself to Red Bull for 2026.
Whilst Max currently has a contract which runs to 2028 and he’s repeatedly stated in the past he’d love to finish his career at Red Bull, Dr. Helmut Marko inadvertently revealed his star driver did have options to exit should the team not hit certain performance criteria.
With the ever present possibility that one team runs away with any F1 championship, as McLaren are doing, it was widely believed Verstappen’s exit clause was based him being in a car unable to be ‘best of the rest’ and in third place in the drivers standings come the summer break.
Mercedes ‘multi-year’ driver deals
Max was indeed in third place following the round in Budapest, but Red Bull Racing were languishing in fourth in the constructors’ championship, a position they have occupied just once since 2009.
With Mercedes now having little option but to re-sign their current driver lineup for next season, all eyes will be on the nature of the deal George Russell manages to obtain. It could be another of Toto’s dreaded ‘multi-year’ contracts which was proudly presented after Hamilton’s last signature was procured, but the reality of Wolff’s plan became clear just a few weeks later.
The ‘multi-year’ deal title is deliberately obscure and in the case of Hamilton he believed Mercedes could in fact ditch him after a single year had elapsed, so he called Ferrari. Given Wolff has stated that Antonelli is the team’s “long term bet” this weekend, should Verstappen wish to join the Brackley based team in 2027, it would be Russell who would be forced to make way.
Mercedes missed chance to sign Verstappen
Speaking in Zandvoort to assembled media, Toto Wolff reflected on the chance he missed to sign Verstappen, but also hinted that despite being third before the summer break, Verstappen’s exit clause was open for him to activate.
“I’ve known Jos and Max for a long time,” the Austrian opened up. “The relationship with Jos was always amicable. Same generation, same shit upbringing, so we always had that. I met Jos and Max in 2016 [sic 2014]… talking about joining Mercedes, and that is what they wanted, but we didn’t have a seat because we had Nico [Rosberg] and we had Lewis [Hamilton].
Wolff admitted he did offer Verstappen a seat free of charge within the Mercedes racing organisation, but it would in Formula 2 with a promise of F1 the following season. There was an additional comfort blanket thrown in which said Max would be free to leave if they didn’t give him an F1 drive alongside Hamilton or Rosberg.
“Then Helmut [Marko] chipped in and obviously gave them the seat,” mused Toto.
Reaction to Wolff’s 400km/h 2026 claim
Toto admits 2021 relationship break down with Verstappen
Of course Max went on to join the Red Bull junior team, then named Toro Rosso, in 2015 becoming the youngest ever driver to start an F1 world championship race. Verstappen was promoted to Red Bull after the early rounds of 2016 going on to win his first race on his first start for the Milton Keynes team.
With the Mercedes power unit dominating, Verstappen was restricted to a couple of wins a year with his best effort before the epic 2021 season being three victories in 2019. Wolff admits the intense battle between Max and Lewis which culminated in last race last lap controversy, which favoured the Dutch driver, caused a break down in his relationship with Jos and his son.
“And, in a way, we went through the ups and downs; 2021 was bad from either side,” Wolff concedes. “It got out of control – the emotions take over, and you become so obsessed with your own perceptions and perspectives that it’s difficult to see the other side.
“And I think that caused a bit of a crisis, but after a while, it settled down, and we had that clearing conversation a year later in Singapore with Jos, and since then, we’ve maintained a good relationship.”
Antonelli backed as Mercedes ‘long term bet’
Wolff went on to ramble somewhat about ‘loyalty’, tipping his hat to George Russell but backing Kimi Antonelli as the team’s ,long term future. “So, where does it lead us in the future? Now I’m this naive and loyal person.”
“George has been with us since he was 17. He’s doing the job, he’s delivering, he’s outperforming the car, in my opinion. And then we have Kimi, and this is our long-term bet, and we just need to give him the time to develop.”
Yet the elephant in the room is how will this supposed loyalty be reflected when Russell and Mercedes finally agree a deal for 2026. Toto then revealed the reasoning for Verstappen’s decision to remain at Red Bull for 2026
Piastri mistakes masked while Norris takes the blame
Verstappen exit clause coud have been triggered
Wolff went on to explain that it was integrity that prevented Verstappen from leaving Red Bull for Mercedes this year. “Max will have his reasons why he’s staying at Red Bull,” he said. “What he said is he owes them, and it’s not the first moment you can walk away when the team doesn’t perform, beyond the contract.
“So I think things have fallen in place like they are today, and who knows what happens in the future, but the integrity that he has shown to his team, and the integrity that I and the team have shown to our drivers, I think that’s important.”
Respecting the fact that English isn’t Toto’s native language, the Mercedes boss appear to suggest Max’s exit clause cold have been activated this season with his slightly oblique reference to the team not performing “beyond the contract.”
Red Bull second seat dilemmas
The exact nature of the exit clause is unknown, but it may well have been based on the lowly position of the Red Bull team who have built a car that only Verstappen can manhandle around the world.
Red Bull have their own big decisions to make, having burned both Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda driving the difficult to handle RB21. Isak Hadjar is never far from Dr. Helmut Marko’s praise this year while Liam Lawson barely gets a mention.
There’s no Sergio Perez type option available for Red Bull this time around, with Cadillac having announced their pairing will be Valtteri Bottas and Checo Perez. It will be to their junior drivers where the team has to look, with Arvin Linblad coming into the Racing Bulls, whilst Hadjar replaces the outgoing Yuki Tsunoda.
Norris vs Piastri: McLaren’s title fight echoes Hamilton vs Rosberg
The tragedy of previous team mate battles for F1’s crown – Just nine times in seventy five years, has the fight for the drivers’ title come down to two team mates exclusively and it has not ended well more than once. McLaren are enjoying an uber dominant season, now 299 points ahead of their nearest rival Ferrari.
And it is their drivers who will fight to out for F1 immortality, since Max Verstappen conceded the 97 points deficit he faces to championship leader Oscar Piastri. Last season with thirteen rounds to go and not just ten as it is now, Lando Norris was 80 points behind Max Verstappen.
Yet despite the world champion failing to win on ten consecutive race weekends, just two wins in Qatar and Brazil at the end of the ayer was enough to fight the challenge from Lando off. The McLaren driver finished a distant sixty six points behind the Red Bull driver. Verstappen’s challenge from hereon this year would be even greater….. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
