Insider claims Max Verstappen's entourage has already made the call to join Mercedes

Ralf Schumacher feels Max Verstappen's entourage, which involves Jos Verstappen and manager Raymond Vermeulen, has already made the call on the driver's future, and it would be at Mercedes. The Dutch driver's future has been a hot topic in F1 since last season.

After Red Bull dominated the 2023 F1 season, the drop in performance in 2024 was drastic. This was coupled with the Christian Horner scandal and a key personnel leaving the team. Max Verstappen, however, was able to rescue the season as he retained his title, the team, however, slumped to finish 3rd in the championship.

The 2025 F1 season has been worse, as Max Verstappen is more or less out of contention. He's already 69 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull is currently a slower car compared to McLaren. As a result, we've seen Christian Horner be booted out of the team with immediate effect.

Horner has been replaced by Laurent Mekies, who has already taken over the role at Red Bull, and one of his primary jobs is going to be to convince Max Verstappen to stay with the team. According to Ralf Schumacher, however, it appears that the decision has already been made by Jos Verstappen and Raymond Vermeulen. Talking about the situation on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast by Sky Sports, Schumacher said,

“He knows what he owes to Red Bull, but I think his management and his father, who has been around in Formula 1 for a long time, already know where the adventure will continue. And so, I think more of Mercedes.”

He added,

“They won't like to hear this in Salzburg, but the signals for Red Bull are not good at the moment. If Max Verstappen wants success in the short term for next year, then he will have to look elsewhere. That's what I think. And remember, there will be new engines and everything. I think it's a bigger adventure at Mercedes.”

Max Verstappen meeting Toto Wolff nothing more than a coincidence

When questioned about the rumors of Toto Wolff and Max Verstappen ending up at Sardines at the same time, Ralf Schumacher felt that it was nothing more than a coincidence. If the two parties wanted to meet, they could easily do it in Britain as well. He said,

“I think so, I think I might have spoiled the holiday a bit. From my own experience, I know you might need to choose a different holiday destination if you want peace. It's quite funny, though, when the two of them end up in the same harbor."

The timeline for Verstappen's future does appear to be in the next few weeks, when he'll take a call on where he wants to go next. The driver has spent almost his entire career racing for Red Bull in some way, and a change is certainly going to be an interesting prospect for the driver.