Max Verstappen to Mercedes rumours reignite with ‘handshake agreement’ claim – report

Max Verstappen’s father has a “handshake agreement” in place with Toto Wolff for the Red Bull driver to join Mercedes for the F1 2026 season, it has been claimed.

Mercedes recently finalised their driver lineup for next season, confirming that teenage sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli will replace seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton as George Russell’s team-mate for F1 2025.

Max Verstappen to Mercedes rumours resurface with ‘gentleman’s agreement’ claim

The decision to promote Antonelli came after persistent links of a move for Verstappen, with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff making no secret of his desire to sign the reigning three-time World Champion as Ferrari-bound Hamilton’s successor.

Despite holding a contract until the end of the F1 2028 season, Verstappen’s future has come under scrutiny this year in light of the heightened tensions between his father Jos and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, as well as the declining performance of the RB20 car as F1 2024 has progressed.

Having started the season with four wins from the first five races, Verstappen remains without a victory since the Spanish Grand Prix seven races ago – his longest victory drought since the 2020 season.

F1 contracts: Made to be broken?

? F1 2024 driver salaries revealed: Who are the highest-paid drivers on the grid?

? F1 driver contracts: What is the contract status of every driver on the 2024 grid?

That poor run has seen Verstappen’s lead over McLaren driver Lando Norris reduced to 59 points ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, a race the Dutchman has never won.

Meanwhile, Red Bull lost the lead of the Constructors’ Championship for the first time since May 2022 in Baku last weekend, with McLaren ahead by 20 points with seven races remaining.

Red Bull have seen a number of senior figures depart over the course of F1 2024, with design guru Adrian Newey heading to Aston Martin and sporting director Jonathan Wheatley set to become Audi F1 team principal next year.

On Wednesday, Red Bull announced a staff restructure in preparation for Wheatley’s exit, with Verstappen’s long-serving race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase promoted to head of racing amongst several other internal promotions.

GP Lambiase has been promoted to head of racing in a Red Bull staff restructure.https://t.co/Wf2sRS2ZbY

He will remain as Max Verstappen's race engineer.#F1 #RedBull #MaxVerstappen #GPLambiase pic.twitter.com/o48O5gTW8u

— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) September 18, 2024

Lambiase will continue to serve as Verstappen’s race engineer alongside his new role, which he will commence at the start of next year.

A report by German publication F1 Insider has claimed that Newey’s exit has been a ‘particular’ blow to Verstappen, leaving a ‘huge gap’ in the team.

It is said that Newey ‘is courting Verstappen’ to persuade the 26-year-old to follow him to Silverstone, with Verstappen telling reporters in Azerbaijan last weekend that a move to Aston Martin ‘is something maybe for the future that I think about, but not now.’

However, it is claimed that Verstappen has already been lined up for a move to Mercedes for F1 2026, with rumours indicating that his father has struck a gentleman’s agreement with Wolff to make the move to Brackley.

The report claims that Verstappen Sr and the Red Bull star’s manager Raymond Vermeulen are banking on Mercedes being the ones to ace F1’s major technical regulation changes in 2026, when new engine and chassis rules – including a switch to 50 per cent electrification and fully sustainable fuel – will come into effect.

Having emerged as F1’s dominant force under the last major engine changes in 2014, after which the team won a record eight consecutive Constructors’ titles and seven straight Drivers’ Championships split between Hamilton (six) and Nico Rosberg (one), Mercedes’ preparations for the 2026 rules are widely thought to be advanced.

The 2026 season will see Red Bull powered by their own in-house Powertrains division, while current suppliers Honda will reunite with Newey at Aston Martin.

Despite Honda’s success with Red Bull over recent years, it is claimed that there are fears over whether Honda ‘will be able to keep up from the outset’ with their competitors, having originally withdrawn from F1 at the end of Verstappen’s maiden title-winning season in 2021.

Although Verstappen is officially contracted to Red Bull for the next four seasons, it is said that his deal would prove no obstacle to a move to Mercedes due to the presence of exit clauses, which the World Champion can ‘use for 2026 under certain conditions.’

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com at last month’s Dutch Grand Prix, Horner was adamant that Verstappen will remain with Red Bull for as long as the team can provide him with a competitive car.

Yet he conceded that performance clauses could prevent Verstappen from seeing out the entirety of his Red Bull deal.

Horner said: “I find it surprising how much discussion in the open media there is about this topic.

“The situation was always clear between ourselves and Max and I think that others can talk, but we’re comfortable with where we’re at.

“It’s down to us to deliver. We have an agreement until 2028, so it’s down to us to deliver.

“I didn’t see Toto’s car performing that well [at Zandvoort]. 2028 is a long way away. It’s down to us to provide a race-winning car.

“Every contract has a performance [clause] element in it. We’re not going to talk about what those elements are, but as long as we provide a competitive car we know what the situation is.”

Mercedes opted against specifying the exact length of Antonelli’s contract when announcing the 18-year-old’s promotion, while the two-year extension signed by new team-mate George Russell last summer is set to expire at the end of next season.

Appearing on Sky F1 at the recent Italian Grand Prix, Rosberg claimed that Russell “is not safe at all” at Mercedes and described the 2025 season as a shootout between the British driver and Antonelli to become Verstappen’s 2026 team-mate.

He said: “George Russell is not safe at all because Toto still wants Max and he will try again for 2026 because ‘give up’ does not appear in Toto’s vocabulary.

“If Max does become available – and I do think it’s a possibility – then it is a shootout between George and Kimi next year.

“And it’s a lot of pressure on George because he has everything to lose, really, next year.

“He should be the one ahead internally, because Kimi is 18 and he’s completely new and in a full-pressure situation.

“It’s not an easy situation there for George.”

Read next: ‘Do you think you can get away with this?’ – Adrian Newey blasted for Aston Martin show