The sacking of Red Bull Racing CEO Christian Horner early this month reignited rumours about the future of Max Verstappen. The four-time F1 champion will likely not be able to defend his title this year, as he is 69 points behind leader Oscar Piastri. Meanwhile, Red Bull is fourth in the constructors' standings, with few options to even finish in the top three behind McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes.
Horner being fired comes after 18 months of downfall for the team, and it's been said that neither Max nor his father Jos Verstappen were happy with Horner (who was denounced of inappropriate behaviour in February 2024 by a female employee) and some believe they may have had a say in the decision to replace Horner with Laurent Mekies.
But another theory suggests that Max Verstappen is still not comfortable in Red Bull, and could accept an offer from Toto Wolff to join Mercedes next year, which would fill the gap left by Lewis Hamilton. So far, it's only rumours and theories, and Helmut Marko, Red Bull senior advisor, said that we shouldn't trust them.
In OE24, an Austrian outlet, Marko reminded that Max's contract ends in 2028. "We have a valid contract and we assume that Max will stay with us", he said (via PlanetF1).
The advisor downplayed the rumours, saying that Verstappen is "free to meet with whoever he wants", but they expected that he will fulfil his contract. There are still 332 points up for grabs, which is a decent package. We hope the updates we'll bring in Spa and Budapest will have an impact", Marko added.