Max Verstappen’s F1 future seems to be up in the air (Image: Getty)
believes that will be driving for in 2026. has been chasing the reigning world champion’s signature hard and is keeping his options open for the new regulation period.
have signed Kimi Antonelli and for their 2025 line-up after jumped ship for Fred Vasseur’s project at , but Wolff has options available to him in 2026 with both of his drivers out of contract at the end of next season.
Wolff’s admiration for Verstappen is no secret and while ’ lucrative power units make them hard to turn down, the Dutchman is also a target for Aston Martin, and his previous links to Honda make them equally as appealing should he decide to part ways with .
Discussing the three-time world champion’s likely next steps on the Red Flags podcast, Steiner said: “I see him landing at , but he has options. I see him at in 2026.”
If Verstappen is stolen away from then has a wealth of internal options to consider in 2026 including Liam Lawson and , but the team principal revealed in Singapore that he is willing to assess drivers outside his current talent pool as well.
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Guenther Steiner believes that Verstappen will wind up at Mercedes (Image: Getty)
Among those options is Russell, who has been nurtured through both his junior career and time at Williams to be ’ long-term team leader after Hamilton. After impressing against his seven-time world champion team-mate, see him as a worthy successor to Verstappen.
“ is out of contract at the end of next year,” Horner told Sky Sports F1 in Singapore. “It would be foolish not to take that into consideration. There are other drivers, talented drivers, that will be out of contract as well.”
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Asked about the possibility of Russell swapping Mercede for , Steiner continued: “For sure, there is a lot of jabbing going on. But there’s no smoke without fire. Christian will need a top driver if Max leaves. And George, for sure, is out there.”
While Steiner believes that the move is plausible, boss Wolff was not entertaining the switch. “But, coming back to the point, he’s stirring the s*** up,” he fumed. “It’s part of the game. George has been a driver forever and hopefully will be forever.”