Defiant Verstappen guarded over Mercedes speculation

SILVERSTONE -- Max Verstappen again refused to be drawn on ongoing speculation he might leave Red Bull for Mercedes in 2026.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has confirmed an interest in signing the four-time world champion for next year.

Sources have confirmed to ESPN Verstappen has a clause in his contract that would get him out of his Red Bull deal -- currently running to 2028 -- if he is lower than third going into the August summer break.

Verstappen is third at present, nine points ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell. Reports suggest Verstappen may replace Russell since the Englishman is yet to sign a contract beyond this season.

Last week Verstappen insisted his only focus is on improving Red Bull's 2025 car after a difficult run of results.

Asked about the rumours this week, he said: "I have nothing to add. Nothing has changed from my side.

"Last week we didn't have a great result. I think it was not a great weekend, but also a bit unlucky in general. I don't say of course that we would be challenging McLaren, but we could have had a decent result. And everything that I said that week is still the same. Nothing has changed from my side."

Last week, Wolff confirmed he will look to decide on his 2026 line-up during the summer break which follows the Hungarian Grand Prix at the start of August. This is also when Verstappen's clause would or would not be triggered in relation to his championship position.

Ultimately, no concrete decisions can be made on the Mercedes or Verstappen side until the Hungarian Grand Prix finishes.

ESPN understands Red Bull boss Christian Horner is relaxed about the situation, with many within the team feeling the Mercedes rumours are coming more from Verstappen's father Jos than from the reigning champion.

The question about where to drive in 2026 is more complicated than it might be in other years, with Formula 1 set for a sweeping regulation change on both the aerodynamic and engine side.

In layman's terms, that effectively means a clean slate in the competitive order, with no accurate way of predicting who will be the dominant team and who will struggle.

Sources have told ESPN Mercedes is increasingly confident about their 2026 engine, although that in itself is no guarantee of success -- Mercedes is currently being beaten in the championship by McLaren, who it supplies engines to.

Red Bull is ending its title-winning Honda partnership after this year and next season will run its own engines, built in conjunction with Ford. The feeling from within the Milton Keynes-based team is that the new project is unlikely to produce the class-leading engine from the get-go, but knowing where the 2026 engine is in relation to the others is impossible to predict. Red Bull has also always prided itself on the strength of its car design department.

Asked if it was a risk to move to a different team with so many unknowns in 2026, Verstappen said: "That's right. That's why I'm contracted to Red Bull."

One growing theory has been that Verstappen might stick it out with Red Bull next season -- with Russell getting a one-year deal -- in order to properly assess where to drive next season.

That scenario would also allow him to see if the likes of Ferrari or perhaps Aston Martin -- the Silverstone-based team who are becoming Honda's engine partner -- have emerged as the best team.

Some reports have suggested Verstappen might take a sabbatical in order to see where things are, but that suggestion was the only thing Verstappen gave a categorical answer to.

When asked if there was a possibility he might sit out F1, he replied: "No, no, for sure not."

Verstappen has shown an increasing interest in taking part in GT racing events, with a highly publicised test at the Nurburgring under the name Franz Herman.

He suggested he will continue looking for ways to increase his participation in those events.

"I'll try to, of course, in the future combine [F1] with any kind of other racing that is possible. But I can't prepare for it. Because I do want to, of course, explore a bit out of Formula 1. Which, of course, I'm already doing with testing, but eventually also racing."