Max Verstappen to Mercedes? Helmut Marko gets furious with George Russell

Max Verstappen and Red Bull seem less tied together than they have ever been since the Dutchman’s landing at the team that made him a four-time world champion. He himself has been indirectly fueling the rumors about his possible farewell with some sibylline statements, but Helmut Marko has vigorously shushed George Russell according to whom the separation between the parties appears evidently more likely than the Austrian consultant believes it actually is.

“What did he say this time? Because Russell really says a lot – Marko told reporters present in Spielberg for the Austrian Grand Prix’He talks, but I thought he already had a contract for next season. Evidently things have changed since Montreal, maybe the victory hurt him”.

The whole thing stems from the fact that Verstappen had stated Thursday that he “was not thinking about 2026” as far as staying with Red Bull. At the same time Russell, whose contract at Mercedes expires in 2025, let slip that it would be “normal” for his current team to court the Dutchman.

“What Russell did is just a theoretical exercise. And I have no opinion to share with you on his hypothesis” are the words with which Marko closed the matter. So not a definite confirmation of Verstappen at Red Bull, but certainly a willingness to try everything possible to retain him. Trying, at the same time, to ward off rumors about Mercedes.