In the initial stages of the 2024 season, controversy engulfed the Red Bull camp because of an inappropriate behavior allegation against Team Principal Christian Horner. While the matter was put to rest—at least legally—there was a lot of turmoil behind the scenes, including a rift between Jos Verstappen and Horner.
Jos had accused Horner of spoiling the environment within Red Bull, which seemingly affected its on-track performance. This kickstarted rumors of his son Max considering a move to rival Mercedes.
The Silver Arrows’ Team Principal Toto Wolff also met up with Jos and Max’s entourage to discuss a move for the future. However, Jos has changed his mind since then.
“Now look at McLaren and Mercedes. Are you better off with a Mercedes engine?” he stated per Formule1.nl. “Well, not at the moment. But of course that is exactly the competition you are in.”
“That is also the beauty of the sport, that you can also just make the wrong decisions. And that has never been different in Formula 1,” he added.
The Sun are reporting that Mercedes are preparing a £128m offer for Max Verstappen to join the F1 team from Red Bull ️ pic.twitter.com/hBuzGPMik5
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 1, 2024
Max was a three-time World Champion with Red Bull when talks between the two parties began, and he was mainly concerned about the backstage politics affecting the Austrian squad’s ability to field a race-winning car. Although Max managed to bag title number four by the end of the year, Red Bull’s difficulties became very apparent.
The RB20 struggled with handling, making it challenging for him to compete consistently for wins. Meanwhile, Mercedes’ power unit is expected to be one of the strongest following the 2026 regulation changes, which could be an enticing prospect for Max and his father to consider.
Does Max want to leave Red Bull?
There was a point in 2024 when Max sounded like he was done with the politics at Red Bull. However, all said and done, he did manage to win another title.
As such, Max doesn’t want to change teams, at least until his contract runs out in 2028. After that, there is a high possibility that he won’t even be in F1 since he has repeatedly stated that he doesn’t want to be in the sport in his mid to late 30s. He will be 31 at that stage.
Max, like Jos, admitted that there were discussions with Wolff in 2024. “You always talk to each other, and I’m not lying that we sat together. That’s not a problem in itself, I think,” Max said to F1Maximaal.nl. However, during those talks, he had made it clear to the Mercedes boss that he wasn’t planning on leaving the Red Bull family at all.
