Max Verstappen told concerning Red Bull timeline as Mercedes rumours swirl

The sacking of Christian Horner by Red Bull has left question marks over what this means in relation to Max Verstappen’s future.

But if it means that Verstappen is set to stay for a recovery mission, Ralf Schumacher warns there will be no overnight turnaround, with Formula 1 history showing that Verstappen would need to wait “two to three years” to see Red Bull come out the other side.

Can Max Verstappen afford to wait for Red Bull recovery?

As recently as 2023, Red Bull was completing a season which yielded 21 wins out of 22 races, record-breaking success, but such glory days have since faded, Verstappen sat P3 in the F1 2025 Drivers’ Championship standings, 69 points off top spot, while Red Bull are 288 points behind McLaren in the Constructors’, leaving them P4.

This decline has seen the rumour mill bubble with suggestions that Verstappen could head for Aston Martin – to reunite with Adrian Newey and Honda – but the rumours have swung back towards Mercedes after George Russell claimed “ongoing” talks between Verstappen and Mercedes were influencing his path to a new contract.

Neither Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff nor Verstappen shut down the suggestion of talks having taken place, Mercedes’ slate currently clean when it comes to contracted drivers for F1 2026.

Verstappen is under contract at Red Bull until the end of 2028, but a performance-related exit clause exists in the terms. It is believed that to activate it, Verstappen would need to be outside the top four of the Drivers’ Championship after the Hungarian Grand Prix, leaving two rounds to go until that crucial point with Belgium and Hungary F1 2025’s next stops.

Verstappen has made it clear previously that seeing out his Formula 1 career having only driven for a Red Bull team would be the dream scenario, but if he were to stick to his guns, Schumacher warns harder times would likely need to be endured for a while longer yet.

Quizzed on how Horner’s Red Bull exit could impact Verstappen’s future, Schumacher told Sky Deutschland: “I don’t think one has anything to do with the other, that the two of them were perhaps not the best of friends.

“But that wasn’t Max’s point. Max obviously wants to stay at Red Bull if at all possible, because that’s where it all started and he owes a lot to Red Bull. But this valley that Red Bull is now going through, I’m afraid, will take a while.

“In Formula 1 history, it usually takes two or three years.”

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Schumacher acknowledges that this is not a typical period in Formula 1, as next year, new chassis and engine regulations arrive, making F1 2026 arguably the biggest regulatory shake-up which Formula 1 has seen.

Red Bull will at that point begin their journey as an engine manufacturer in their own right, having formed Red Bull Powertrains and partnered with Ford.

But, while such change presents opportunities for major swings in the pecking order, Schumacher is not convinced that Red Bull will be a big winner.

“Now, of course, one thing could happen: next year’s new rules could lead to a great approach,” Schumacher continued. “I just lack the imagination because [Pierre] Wache [Red Bull technical director] hasn’t managed to make the car really driveable and good for two or one and a half years now.

“So I still believe that Max is thinking very strongly and more than ever after this weekend about leaving Red Bull.”

The weekend Schumacher makes reference to is a challenging British Grand Prix for Red Bull, their low downforce set-up gamble backfiring as the rain arrived for Grand Prix Sunday at Silverstone.

Verstappen was able to recover from a spin to fifth, while Yuki Tsunoda made it five races in a row without a point.

Read next: Could Yuki Tsunoda receive a boost from Christian Horner sack?