Horner, Wolff rumble on the topic about Verstappen’s F1 future

Toto Wolff continues to talk about Max Verstappen and if he could join Mercedes, as Christian Horner responds to the queries.

Ever since Lewis Hamilton decided to leave Mercedes for Ferrari, the F1 driver market has exploded with lots of speculations. In addition, the coming of Audi has fast-tracked discussions and decisions off-track, thereby having quick results.

They have already roped in Nico Hulkenberg to start with Sauber in 2025 before the big 2026 start. They now have the pool from Carlos Sainz, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu to select from and or rope in any other driver if they wish.

Fernando Alonso has decided to stay put at Aston Martin, while Mercedes is still deciding their replacement of Hamilton. Most certainly, Sainz is linked with it but interestingly, the chatter around Verstappen has risen despite him having a Red Bull seat until 2028.

The shenanigans and power struggle within Red Bull has promoted the speculations, with both Verstappen and even Horner having to remind about a valid contract. It continued on in China as well, where the Red Bull chief was slightly miffed.

Once again, Wolff discussed of roping in Verstappen. He didn’t make it certain about his tactics, but continued to press on with the topic. Horner, meanwhile, was not too pleased with the topic stretching on and on, with Red Bull remaining in headline.

Why would Verstappen join Mercedes –

Wolff: “As for Max, there are so many factors that play a role for a driver joining. Clearly, when you look at it from the most rational point of view, you can say, well, that’s the quickest car in the hands of the quickest driver. But I don’t think that this is the only reason you stay where you are. I think for, let’s say, simple minds, that might be the only reason why you stay in a car and that’s it. But maybe there’s more depth to some people that consider other factors too, and I think that Max has more depth. In that respect, are we able to convince him? I don’t think it’s a matter of convincing. I think that Max knows motor racing better than anyone and he will take decisions that he feels are good for him. I think a few factors play a role, but he’s the one that’s going to trigger some more domino stones to fall in afterwards. But everybody’s waiting for what he’s going to do.”

Is he available or conversations –

Wolff: “You have conversations with many drivers, exploring the opportunities. So that isn’t in a way surprising. As for Max, no, we’re not at the point where we would have discussed years of stuff.”

Still chance to sign Verstappen –

Wolff: “If I was Max, I would stay at Red Bull in 2025. But I’m not Max. I’m really bad at signing, actually. Because it’s the quickest car, but there are other factors. If I say this, I might f**k up my whole strategy.”

How to hold Verstappen back with 2026 in play –

Horner: “Who? Toto has? When did he say that? Have you spoken to Max about this? Because if you speak to Max, and certainly it’s not about pieces of paper at the end of the day. We know that he has a contract at the end of 2028. It’s about how he feels in the team and the relationship he has in the team and the way he’s performing. I don’t think Toto’s problems are his drivers. I think he’s probably got other elements that he needs to be focusing on rather than focusing on drivers that are unavailable.”

Should Verstappen shut it down –

Horner: “I don’t know how many more times he needs to say it. He’s said it numerous times. I’m not going to get drawn into it. I think sometimes it’s just designed to create noise. We’ve moved ahead of the amount of races that Mercedes have won in the modern era. The team’s in form. Why on earth would you want to leave this team? Mercedes are the third team behind their customers at the moment, so I would think his time would be better spent perhaps focusing on the team rather than the driver market.”

Verstappen has never said about staying at Red Bull is 100% –

Horner: “In what conference of the many that he’s done has he said, I’m unequivocally committed to my contract and the team? It’s happened on numerous occasions. I can assure you that there is no ambiguity as to where Max Verstappen will be next year. [Is there a peaceful environment at Red Bull right now -] Yes, yes, yes.”

Verstappen wants peace and less of shuffles –

Horner: I mean, of course, the team is very settled. I think technical reshuffles. We’ve always had evolution in our team. Nothing stays still forever, but we’ve had tremendous continuity. Paul Monaghan collected the trophy today. He’s been with us for, what, 19 years. We’ve always enjoyed great stability, but at the same time have continually developed great talent within the team. If you think of engineers like Rocky, who worked with all those championships with Sebastian, he still works for the team. He’s on a different project, but he’s still within the company. Simon Rennie still works for the team. There’s many, many engineers and designers that we’ve always had tremendous stability. But, of course, it’s not just about one or two individuals. It’s about the collective.”

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