Christian Horner plays down “noise” of Verstappen to Mercedes talk

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner dismissed ongoing speculation linking Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen with a seat at Mercedes as “a lot of noise”.

Horner’s Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff has long targeted a move for Verstappen and flirted with the Dutchman last season before opting to put rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli alongside George Russell for 2025 – but now the same scenario is being mooted for next year.

Russell is out of contract at the end of the current season and has himself spoken about Mercedes continuing talks with Verstappen, and that he is not surprised the team would be eyeing up the best drivers available.

“It’s a lot of noise,” Horner replied when asked on Sky Sports about the comments surrounding Verstappen’s future.

“I think Max gets quite annoyed by it and you know we’re very clear with the contract that we have with Max until 2028. Anything is entirely speculative that is being said, but yeah we tend not to pay too much attention to it.”

Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Wolff said ahead of Austrian Grand Prix qualifying, where Russell secured fifth place, that there was “very little probability” of Verstappen joining Mercedes – at least not for 2026.

Russell, meanwhile, is still waiting for a contract extension, with the winner of the Canadian Grand Prix a fortnight ago having emerged as a reported target for Aston Martin.

“I can imagine that George is frustrated he hasn’t been given a contract yet,” Horner said. “But that’s between him and his team.

“But the situation with Max we know clearly where we’re at and obviously as does Max, so everything is subject to noise and within any contract it remains confidential between the parties.”