If Max Verstappen was hoping to leave Red Bull for Mercedes in 2026, he’ll be disappointed as that option is no longer on the table.
The future of the four-time Formula 1 champion has been up in the air for some time, with Red Bull unable to build a car to challenge for the title this season.
While Verstappen has still picked up two wins this year, following Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix he is 81 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, with McLaren teammate Lando Norris the only one who can realistically challenge him.
Speculation has ramped up in recent weeks after Mercedes boss Toto Wolff revealed he was in talks with the Dutchman over a blockbuster move to the Silver Arrows.
Moreover, team principal Christian Horner was dismissed from his role by Red Bull, though Verstappen has since said his exit will not have any bearing on his own future.
Throughout the entire saga, it has been known that there is a performance-related release clause in Verstappen’s contract which runs until 2028.
The 27-year-old was allowed to end his contract early and sign for a rival team, if he was outside of the top-three in the standings come F1’s summer break.
Verstappen is currently third in the championship, with fourth-placed George Russell 28 points behind and this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix is the final race before the break
However, with 25 the maximum number of points up for grabs at the Hungaroring, Verstappen is guaranteed to remain in the top-three, so his release clause will not become active.
This does not rule out the transfer entirely, as the driver or Mercedes could buy out the remainder of his Red Bull contract, but given the huge expense required to do so, it is not under consideration.
Instead, Mercedes are expected to stick with their current line-up of Russell and rookie Kimi Antonelli, both of whom are out of contract at the end of 2025.
According to the Daily Mail, an announcement is not expected before the Hungarian Grand Prix but Russell is very close to putting pen to paper on a new multi-year, £30million-a-season deal.
After a strong start to his F1 career, Antonelli’s form has dropped off, scoring points in just one of the last seven races, but the 18-year-old’s potential is clear to see and he should keep his seat.
George Russell: ‘Mercedes have gone backwards’
Russell finished fifth in Belgium but was far from happy with the pace of his Mercedes car, telling Sky Sports: ‘It was pretty underwhelming, to be honest.
‘Because we tend to favour the cooler conditions. So we couldn’t have really asked for better weather for us. But we’ve just had no pace recently. We need to sit down, all of us.
‘We’re going to have a big meeting this week with all the designers and engineers. To sort of understand the decisions we’ve made in recent weeks or months. And why we’ve gone backwards. So hoping for some improvements in Hungary.
‘P5 was probably flattering the real pace of the car, so I’m at least happy we got the maximum possible. We made a clear change of direction a couple of months ago, and I think it’s been since that point we’ve taken a step backwards.
‘It sometimes takes a few races to understand what the real reasons are for that lack of pace, but clearly it seems that we need to revert back to what we had earlier in the season.’
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