Team boss Toto Wolff rejects Max Verstappen’s move to Mercedes – expert Ralf Schumacher also sees many reasons against it
With Red Bull lagging behind at the start of the 2026 Formula 1 season, rumors that Max Verstappen could leave the team for Mercedes have picked up speed again. However, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff does not want to know anything about it.
“The astonishing thing is that these stupid rumors are already coming out in March,” he says in an interview with oe24 and emphasizes: “Stupid enough that you normally have to talk about it in July. I don’t know who brought this up again now.“
Among others, expert Jolyon Palmer recently announced on the F1 Nation podcast that a conversation between Verstappen and Wolff ”will take place”. “He will be looking for a way to get into that Mercedes because they have the best car,” said Palmer.
Other experts have also recently expressed similar views. But according to Wolff, there are no plans at Mercedes to change anything about the current driver pairing. “We have two drivers with whom we have long-term, multi-year contracts. I couldn’t be happier and happier with both of them,“ said Wolff.
”Both are top performers,” he said of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. There is therefore “absolutely no reason”, says Wolff, “to even think about other drivers. I say that with the greatest respect to Max,” emphasizes the Austrian.
Why Schumacher does not believe in a change
The rumors that Verstappen could be drawn to Mercedes are nothing new. In recent years, such speculation has arisen time and again – although the four-time world champion actually still has a contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028.
However, it is an open secret that there are performance-related exit clauses in Verstappen’s contract that could allow him to leave the team early. Nevertheless, expert Ralf Schumacher does not believe in a move to Mercedes either.
“He now has two good drivers,” said Schumacher on Sky’s Backstage Boxengasse podcast about Toto Wolff, suggesting that both drivers together cost Mercedes “not even a quarter of what Max Verstappen earns at Red Bull.”
“He now has two drivers who can win races. That means, as long as the car is top, you don’t need [Verstappen] at all,“ says Schumacher, who also emphasizes: ”Kimi Antonelli will not send Toto Wolff away. And I can’t imagine that George Russell only has a one-year contract either.”
And on the other hand, Verstappen probably doesn’t want to leave Red Bull at a low point, according to Schumacher. He therefore does not expect the Dutchman to move. “But anything is possible,” says the six-time Grand Prix winner.