Max Verstappen To Mercedes A Subject That Doesn’t Seem To Die Down

The golden rule of Formula 1 is, rather unequivocally one that leaves little to the imagination. And it is that never say never in Formula 1. In other words, for the lack of a better expression, the same would read something like the following:

Expect the unexpected.

Quite frankly, it’s one that can’t and mustn’t be doubted. Three simple instances, albeit each related to a different time period, come to light to serve a standing example.

First, it was always that a team like Ferrari would never struggle in the way it has as to not have won even a single world title (Driver’s championship) in seventeen long years; no one thought that since Kimi in 2007, there won’t be a single driver in red racing overalls who’d fail to pick up a driver’s title. And yet, here we are.

Second, not everyone following Lewis Hamilton’s career would’ve been a hundred percent positive about the great man’s move to Mercedes in 2014 fetching him relentless and redoubtable world-beating success. Hamilton himself, lest it is forgotten, took some convincing from the late great Niki Lauda.

And third, with the way the sport has grown and evolved and at times, not evolved at the rate expected as such, who’d have thought a day would come where Motor Racing would reach Saudi Arabia? But just see the blindingly-fast and fascinating contrasts that Jeddah has already thrown up for us in the events that have happened there so far?

In the similar light of events, who’d have thought that there would arise a day where publications concerned with the top flight of motor-racing would be discussing about Max Verstappen joining Mercedes?

But then, if someone like the great Briton Hamilton, ever a legend of the Silver Arrows can leave the team, as is decided by the end of this year, to make way to Maranello, then a question is left begging:

Can’t Max Verstappen leave Red Bull- the place that groomed, nurtured him, aligned him with all the firepower and resources to become a world champion- only to join Mercedes?

But while the 2025 decision making has already been present with Verstappen confirmed to spend, at least one season, if not more, at Milton Keynes-based outfit, what can’t be possibly ruled out is the Dutch driver moving to Mercedes.

And make no mistake. Nothing has come to light that could confirm this notion. There’s not even been the slightest of indications to anything that would be considered as solidly credible to that direction.

What fires the Max Verstappen to Mercedes move even as that’s in the future?

And yet, the talk of Max Verstappen moving to Mercedes, where Toto Wolff is at the helm of the leadership affairs, doesn’t seem to die down. So why is that? What may have contributed to what could actually be nothing more than rumour mills, at the end of the day in 2026?

Apparently, a spate of new developments, promising and key in equal measure, have led to a recent string of improvements where one talks about Mercedes’ on-track prominence. And had there been none, one would not have seen a George Russell win at Austria, even if that was luck-assisted and the two sweltering but important podiums earned by Sir Lewis Hamilton. Not only did the Stevenage-born win the 2024 British Grand Prix, which was also thanks to an excellent team strategy that superseded any McLaren-induced threats, Mercedes also saw Hamilton, an old guard of the sport reigning supreme at Belgium, eventually.

In the aftermath of the 2024 Spa race, there have been updates made to the car’s flooring and plus the Mercedes Director of Trackside Engineering, Andrew Shovlin confirming that the car will carry an updated or new floor at the Dutch GP, Mercedes are making hot news.

Gone are the days where the current W15 was hard to handle, as was the case where it concerned both Russell and Hamilton. Add to that the uncertainty that Formula 1 generally contends with, especially with respect to the big dynamic names on the grid, there could be a day where Verstappen moves outside Milton Keynes.

This, of course, doesn’t mean that there could be an exhaustion factor associated with Red Bull; the Dutchman having driven for the Horner-powered team for what are nearly nine seasons on the trot.

But simply because given the churn of talent at Red Bull is an unmistakably evident factor with the iconic Newey all set to leave the celebrated outfit come 2025, the Austrian team is bound to suffer a blip where it comes to the ceaseless reserves of talent.

On the other hand, paddock grapevine that it may be, Mercedes’s ability to constantly bounce back and fine-tune its cars’ performance should provide Verstappen, a perennially hungry and tireless driver, with the magnitude of hope he deserves to combat the remainder of the grid.

Forget not that the next two years are going to be particularly important for the entirety of Formula 1. The way Red Bull and Mercedes compete, two teams that have so often been daggers drawn in their fight for ultimate glory at the front of the grid, shall play a decisive role in the fortunes of Verstappen and the others.

The big question, in the mix, shall therefore always be whether Max Verstappen continues to stay committed to Red Bull until 2028, which is what his new contract extension entails.