Max Verstappen to Mercedes? Russell bombshell draws blunt Marko response
Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko says George Russell “talks too much” after sparking the Max Verstappen to Mercedes rumour mill into overdrive.
Yet to sign a new contract which would keep him at Mercedes beyond F1 2025, Russell linked that to “ongoing” negotiations between Mercedes and reigning four-time World Champion Verstappen, but Marko was giving little credit to this suggestion Red Bull are in danger of losing their star driver.
Max Verstappen: Red Bull or Mercedes his future?Verstappen is under contract at Red Bull until the end of 2028, but speculation over his future with the team has been ongoing for the last year, fuelled by the existence of an exit clause in that deal. Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, confirmed to the media including PlanetF1.com at last year’s Dutch Grand Prix that this clause contains a “performance element”.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff made his desire to sign Verstappen for F1 2025 clear when Lewis Hamilton confirmed his move to Ferrari, and according to Russell, Mercedes are pursuing Verstappen’s signature once again, with neither Russell nor Kimi Antonelli contracted beyond the current season.
Speaking to Sky F1 ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, Russell said: “As Mercedes, they want to be back on top.
“And if you’re going to be back on top you need to make sure you’ve got the best drivers, the best engineers, the best pit crew and that’s what Mercedes are chasing.
“So it’s only normal that conversations with the likes of Verstappen are ongoing.
“But from my side, if I’m performing as I’m doing, what have I got to be concerned about? There are two seats in every Formula 1 team.”
“What’s up with him now?” Marko initially responded when the media at the Red Bull Ring brought up Russell’s comments, before adding: “Russell does talk, but I thought he had a contract for next year. That must have changed since Montreal. So that victory actually damaged him.”
Marko is taking what Russell had to say with a giant pinch of salt.
“We can’t actually take this seriously. Russell just talks too much.”
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Russell’s huge Verstappen and Mercedes claim meant Wolff faced quite the grilling when he spoke to the media on Friday in Austria, during which he failed to shut down the suggestion that there are ongoing talks with Verstappen, urging that “I want to just have the conversations behind closed doors, not town halls”.
Wolff added that “at the moment, clearly you need to explore what’s happening in the future”, but when Marko was quizzed on Wolff’s comments, he threw the ball back in the court of his fellow Austrian.
“So you have to talk to Toto, what he knows,” Marko concluded with the media, including PlanetF1.com.
The rumour mill has suggested Verstappen could be free to leave Red Bull for F1 2026 if he is outside the top three in the championship by a certain stage this season, Verstappen currently sat P3, 19 points up the road from Russell.
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