Max Verstappen has announced that he has no plans to switch teams ‘at this point in time’, dealing a blow to Mercedes’ hopes of luring him to Brackley. Toto Wolff has been pursuing the four-time world champion’s signature since Lewis Hamilton called time on his stint with the team in 2024.
Verstappen is contracted with Red Bull until the end of the 2028 season and has expressed a desire to see out his F1 career with the Milton Keynes squad. However, at the height of Red Bull’s internal turmoil and on-track struggles last year, it looked as though he could quit the team.
The 28-year-old confessed to holding meetings with Mercedes team leaders, and team principal Wolff was not shy about his intentions to lure the 71-time Grand Prix winner to the Silver Arrows’ camp.
Verstappen eventually opted to stay put, placing his trust in new boss Laurent Mekies to steer the ship in the right direction. However, with new technical regulations coming into effect for the 2026 season, the fight for the Dutchman’s signature is expected to reignite this year, with nearly three-quarters of the grid out of contract in December.
According to the Dutchman, though, Mercedes could be wasting their time. Speaking about his future plans with Blick, Verstappen declared: “I’m 28 now, and I have a contract with Red Bull until 2028.
“I want to fulfil that contract. At this point in time, I’m ruling out a change of team. It’s a shame that my friend and mentor Helmut Marko won’t be by my side in 2026. I’ll miss him.” Asked if he would certainly be retired by 40, he hit back: “You can bet on it. At 40, I might still be in the pits as team boss in another series.”
While Verstappen is confident that Milton Keynes is the best destination for him at the moment, that will likely change if the season starts and Red Bull are mired in the midfield, or worse. The four-time world champion has made it clear that he will need competitive machinery to continue with Mekies’ squad.
How competitive Red Bull will be, though, remains a mystery. Quizzed over the pecking order, he explained: “The same question is even harder to answer for 2026. None of us have any idea about the new car or the engine.
“I think that during the first tests in Barcelona starting on 26 January, we’ll be spending more time in the garages than out on the track. Hopefully, we’ll all be a bit wiser after the two tests in Bahrain in February.”