Williams boss predicts “big driver market move” amid Max Verstappen-Mercedes rumors

The Williams team boss, James Vowles, has predicted a big driver move in 2027 amid the Max Verstappen - Mercedes rumours that pop up every now and then. Verstappen, ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, confirmed that he will stay at Red Bull at least for 2026.

James Vowles has been associated with Formula 1 for a long time, and with several drivers already locked in for 2026, he believes that ahead of 2027, when the contracts of several drivers will come to an end, a 'big driver market move' will take place in the F1 paddock.

In line with this, via a recent interaction with Motorsportweek, Vowles added the following:

"I think the end of 2026 will be another big driver market move. A lot of contracts come up at that stage."

Vowles further talked about his driver line-up of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon:

"Simple answer is this: I have two drivers who believe in what we're doing in terms of the longevity of this team, the investment in this team, and the direction to go back towards winning championships."

Before Max Verstappen brought an end to the Mercedes 2026 rumours on 31st July 2025, the buzz in the world of F1 was huge regarding where he would ultimately end up for next year. More fire was added to the situation when Mercedes' boss, Toto Wolff, first publicly expressed his interest in signing Verstappen in late June.

The four-time world champion has been making his trade in the pinnacle of motorsport with Red Bull since 2016. Interestingly, his current deal with the team runs until the end of 2028.

Max Verstappen was 'quite clear' on his 2026 future with Red Bull

F1 Grand Prix of Austria - Source: Getty

When Max Verstappen made it known that he was staying put at the Laurent Mekies-led Red Bull F1 team for 2026, back then, he came up with an in-depth response.

In line with this, he added the following via an interaction with Formula 1. He said:

"I'm discussing with the team already the plans, the things that we want to change next year so that means I'm also staying with the team for next year and if my boat is next to Toto's then the boat is next to Toto's. You can have a personal relationship with someone even if you don't have a working relationship with someone. I think it's time to basically stop all the rumours, and for me it's always been quite clear that I was staying anyway."

Max Verstappen has a stellar record in the sport and is easily one of the best drivers on the modern grid. While he has won four world titles consecutively since 2021, in the ongoing 2025 season, it seems unlikely that he'd be able to add a fifth.

After the first 14 rounds, Verstappen is in third place (187 points) in the drivers' standings in comparison to Lando Norris (275) and Oscar Piastri (284).