Toto Wolff gets welcome Max Verstappen update as Mercedes and Aston Martin face showdown
Toto Wolff and Mercedes are still chasing Max Verstappen's signature, despite announcing their new line-up.
Guenther Steiner believes that Max Verstappen will be driving for Mercedes in 2026. Toto Wolff has been chasing the reigning world champion’s signature hard and is keeping his options open for the new regulation period.
Mercedes have signed Kimi Antonelli and George Russell for their 2025 line-up after Lewis Hamilton jumped ship for Fred Vasseur’s project at Ferrari, but Wolff has options available to him in 2026 with both of his drivers out of contract at the end of next season.
Wolff’s admiration for Verstappen is no secret and while Mercedes’ lucrative power units make them hard to turn down, the Dutchman is also a target for Aston Martin, and his previous links to Honda make them equally as appealing should he decide to part ways with Red Bull.
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Discussing the three-time world champion’s likely next steps on the Red Flags podcast, Steiner said: “I see him landing at Mercedes, but he has options. I see him at Mercedes in 2026.”
If Verstappen is stolen away from Red Bull then Christian Horner has a wealth of internal options to consider in 2026 including Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, but the team principal revealed in Singapore that he is willing to assess drivers outside his current talent pool as well.
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Among those options is Russell, who has been nurtured through both his junior career and time at Williams to be Mercedes’ long-term team leader after Hamilton. After impressing against his seven-time world champion team-mate, Red Bull see him as a worthy successor to Verstappen.
“George Russell is out of contract at the end of next year,” Horner told Sky Sports F1 in Singapore. “It would be foolish not to take that into consideration. There are other drivers, talented drivers, that will be out of contract as well.”
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Asked about the possibility of Russell swapping Mercede for Red Bull, Steiner continued: “For sure, there is a lot of jabbing going on. But there’s no smoke without fire. Christian will need a top driver if Max leaves. And George, for sure, is out there.”
While Steiner believes that the move is plausible, Mercedes boss Wolff was not entertaining the switch. “But, coming back to the point, he’s stirring the s*** up,” he fumed. “It’s part of the game. George has been a Mercedes driver forever and hopefully will be forever.”
