The contrast could not be more brutal for Max Verstappen. After dominating the sport for years, the four-time World Champion is enduring a grueling start to the 2026 season. Following a lonely fourth-place finish at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, Verstappen dropped a bombshell, admitting that Milton Keynes has fallen drastically behind its competitors. According to the Dutchman, the underperforming RB22 is currently only the fourth-fastest car on the grid.
“We’re still P4 as a team,” Verstappen conceded after finishing behind a Ferrari, a Mercedes, and a McLaren in Spain. “It won’t change the outcome of any of the tracks unless we bring performance, because we are not going to change it by just changing the setup. It’s a work in progress.”
This is in stark contrast to Aston Martin whose F1 car design guru is refusing to upgrade the AMR22 because he believes there is far more potential to be found in the current iteration of his design.
With only a solitary podium to his name after seven rounds, the 28-year-old is watching his rivals break away. While Ferrari’s upgraded SF-26 just propelled Lewis Hamilton to his maiden.victory for the Scuderia, Red Bull is floundering on high-energy, high-degradation tracks.
The Low-Ball Behind the Scenes
Naturally, a frustrated Verstappen has been linked with a move away from Red Bull, with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff never hiding his historic interest in the Dutchman. But if Verstappen is looking to Brackley for a lifeline, he might want to think again.
According to former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, Mercedes did recently submit an offer to Verstappen behind the scenes—but it was intentionally designed to be rejected. Speaking on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast, Schumacher revealed that the four-time champion turned down the contract out of hand due to its insulting financial consideration.
“There’s no spot at Ferrari right now,” Schumacher explained. “And at Mercedes, you hear that Wolff has made him an offer behind the scenes. But that offer was apparently so bad financially that it’s not an option anyway. That’s apparently what’s going on.”
Protecting the New Prodigy
Why would Mercedes low-ball the most lethal driver on the grid? The answer lies in their own staggering success. Mercedes has returned to the absolute peak of the F1 pecking order, winning six of the opening seven rounds. At the heart of that resurgence is second-year driver Kimi Antonelli, who has rapidly fired himself into being the favourite for the 2026 drivers title.
Schumacher theorises that Wolff’s weak financial offer to Verstappen was a calculated, deliberate move to protect his young prodigy and keep the peace in Brackley.
“I believe this is intentional,” Schumacher said. “Why would Wolff bring in the expensive Max Verstappen alongside Kimi Antonelli—the next superstar if everything goes according to plan? Then he’d have two drivers on the team fighting each other. He remembers that well from the days of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, and that’s the last thing you want. Above all, he’d be putting Kimi at risk.”
In Schumacher’s favour
Yet Ralf Schumacher is known for stretching the truth of his sources to the limit and this feels like one of those situations. Yes, Kimi Antonelli looks to be the next Max Verstappen and so what is the point of paying a fortune for Max to race alongside the next F1 generational talent?
Also in favour of Schumacher’s theory is the fact that Mercedes have been low balling their drivers’ for years and indeed since Lewis Hamilton’s contract which saw him fail to win in 2021 expired, no Mercedes driver has enjoyed more than a single season’s guaranteed drive for the team.
This is the reason why Lewis Hamilton left just weeks after signing his final deal with Brackley, announcing his move to Ferrari after a supposed ‘multi-year’ deal signed with Toto Wolff.
The muddle in the theory
However, as Verstappen recognises Red Bull are no threat to Mercedes this season, so the need to sign the driver who could derail your team’s title chances is hardly a reality for Wolff. Further, despite whoring himself around the paddock in 2025 chasing Max wherever he went, Toto Wolff does not need to make the four times champ an offer out of some weird feeling of obligation.
Secondly, the argument that Toto doesn’t want another Lewis Hamilton v Nico Rosberg era is a nonsense because that is exactly what he has currently with Antonelli and Russell. The pair almost took each other out in both the Sprint and the Grand Prix in Canada before Russell’s mercedes powertrain gave up the ghost handing victory to the young Italian.
Of course it’s the job of F1 analysts and writers to theorise about various paddock events, but this time it feels like Schumacher may have been smoking something too strong for his regular constitution. Verstappen had his chance to join the silver arrows and write his own contract last season, but he chose to remain at his Red Bull home and fight for their return to the top of there sport.
Silly season begins
As the silly season where theories over driver moves for next year begin, the lates paddock rumour is that Fernando Alosno could be considering a return to Alpine. This would see the end of Franco Colapinto and the huge amount of cash he brings from South America. Yet with Alonso saying farewell to the Barcelona circuit last weekend, it seems he is more likely to retire from F1 rather than switch teams once more despite the abject mess of a car Aadrian Newey has designed for Aston Martin.
One other F1 tale doing the paddock rounds is that the sone of Dietricht Mateschitz – founder of the Red Bull energy empire – is taking control of the F1 project. Austrian director Oliver Mintzlaff is believed to have had aspirations to become a Zak Brown – CEO styler figure of Red Bull Racing – and was responsible for the rumours of Christian Horner’s illicit behaviour.
Further, it is believed Mintzlaff was the architect of Horner’s removal and being held responsible for where Red Bull Racing are currently sitting in the championship. It seems in Austria the night of the long knives is not yet finished as F1 heads to Styria and the Red Bull Ring for its next outing.
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A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
Andrew’s work focuses particularly on the intersection of Formula 1 politics, regulation, and team strategy. Andrew closely follows developments involving the FIA, team leadership, and driver market dynamics, helping to provide context behind the sport’s biggest stories.
With experience covering multiple seasons of Formula 1’s modern hybrid era, Andrew has developed a detailed understanding of how regulatory changes and competitive shifts influence the grid. Andrew’s editorial approach prioritises clarity and context, aiming to help readers navigate complex developments within the sport.
In addition to editorial duties, Andrew is particularly interested in how media narratives shape fan perception of Formula 1, and how reporting can balance speed with accuracy in an increasingly digital news environment.
