Like him or not, Max Verstappen is a generational talent. His F1 career has seen him untouchable by teammates who are driving the same car—while Verstappen is capable of winning championships with the machinery.
And now the silly season is upon us with paddock rumours spreading like wildfire that Verstappen is set to end his time with Red Bull Racing. And not for the first time, one of the suitors is believed to be Mercedes-AMG F1.
The Ghost of Mercedes Overtures Past
Toto Wolff publicly courted Verstappen during the summer of 2025, leaving his current drivers hanging around waiting for a contract for this season, which finally came late in the autumn. The Mercedes boss is said to have missed out on a move for Max to Mercedes during the Rosberg/Hamilton years, so ultimately Verstappen ended up at Red Bull.
Verstappen committed to Red Bull for 2026, which ended the Mercedes overtures, but his decision is now looking suspect given Red Bull is having a shocker this year.
Red Bull’s 2026 Struggles and Wing Failures
First, when the RB22 car arrived, it was a long way overweight and, despite flashes of brilliance from Verstappen here and there, he had to wait until Round 5 in Miami for the team to shed several kilograms from the car. With that, Max was capable of battling with the likes of Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren.
Max now languishes in seventh place in the championship and across the last race weekends he has suffered two rear wing failures which have cost him dearly. The first was in his quest for pole position in Austria, while the second saw him crash out of the British Grand Prix late in the race.
The disappointment of the season appeared to boil over as Verstappen let fly over team radio. “I’m stuck. Mate, fk this car. Fk! Unbelievable. Fk this.” After the race, Verstappen was candid in the media pen. “Well, at that point it’s super dangerous because you can really hurt yourself two times. I was lucky in Austria, I was lucky here, but that’s why you get really fed up with it”.
Paddock Summit Meets Secret Amsterdam Meetings
After the race, Verstappen’s team was locked in intensive talks in the Red Bull hospitality area. Jos Verstappen, Raymond Vermeulen, Laurent Mekies, and Oliver Mintzlaff were pictured in deep conversation for a lengthy period of time.
Coming into the weekend, there had been a swathe of rumours about talks taking place with McLaren which were denied by Zak Brown, although his comments left some wiggle room based on semantics. Now, Verstappen’s manager Raymond Vermeulen speaks out on the matter.
“A lot is being written. But the truth is that Max wants to finish his stint at Red Bull. He has a contract through 2028 and wants to see it out,” he said. The McLaren rumours were sparked by a photo of a secret meeting in Amsterdam between former Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko, Jos Verstappen, and Vermeulen himself.
Yet Max’s manager played down the occasion, explaining: “That was a private appointment that had been planned for a long time. Moreover, Max’s sister got married”.
The Summer Break Performance Clause Confirmed
Interestingly, Vermeulen for the first time confirmed the much-reported clause that would allow Verstappen to walk away prior to his contract concluding in 2028. First rumoured last season, the contract includes a break clause for Max which states if he is outside the top two in the Drivers’ Championship come F1’s summer break, he can leave the team the following season.
Following his zero-points haul in Silverstone, it is now mathematically impossible for Max to make P2, with just two race weekends remaining before F1 takes its annual sojourn. And to that end, Vermeulen addressed the matter head-on. “The fact that this clause exists doesn’t mean we’ll use it. We could have done so in recent years as well, but we didn’t,” Vermeulen says.
In fact, the only time since the existence of the clause emerged where Max could have exercised it was in 2025. Then he was on 187 points, some 97 behind Oscar Piastri, whom he overhauled to take second place in the championship just two points shy of Lando Norris.
Locked in Limbo: Verstappen’s Lack of Options
The BBC recently reported the clause means Max has until October to formally notify Red Bull of his decision, which would keep the team in limbo until late in the season. Yet Vermeulen’s intervention appears to suggest Verstappen has no other options but to remain at Red Bull.
He did not need to address the rumours and give the explanations he did, given the timelines of the clause. It feels as though Max’s manager wants to reassure the Red Bull hierarchy that Verstappen is here to stay—at least for next season.
The simple fact is that Verstappen has nowhere to go. Mercedes has two drivers capable of winning the Drivers’ Championship this season and doesn’t need Verstappen with a car which remains dominant, if at times fragile.
McLaren too has two very capable drivers in world champion Lando Norris and his teammate Oscar Piastri. It would be strange for McLaren’s CEO to drop a hand grenade into the team by dispatching Piastri and recruiting Verstappen. Plus, the team for now has their own difficulties to get on top of with the tricky MCL40 car.
The Aston Martin Wildcard Dissolves
There were suggestions earlier this season that Max could follow guru car designer Adrian Newey to Aston Martin. Yet the Silverstone team remains rooted to the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship, with a B-spec car coming late in the season. The disastrous start to the new era of F1 car design regulations for Aston could see them take years before they are fighting at the front.
So it would be no surprise were Max to confirm this weekend in Belgium that he is again committed to Red Bull Racing into 2027. His only other realistic opportunity is to retire from F1 and take to the sports car racing Verstappen revels in so much.
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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.
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