Gunther Steiner does not believe that Mercedes is an option for Max Verstappen in Formula 1, after all, the team has already found its own superstar: Kimi Antonelli.
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Although the four-time world champion has a contract with Red Bull until the end of the 2028 season, rumors of a possible departure as early as 2026 have been circulating in the paddock. A performance-related clause would allow a contract break.
However, for the former Haas boss, the Dutchman should only consider leaving the team if it were to another that could be competitive, which would leave few options, especially now with Mercedes taking advantage of Antonelli. “If Max goes somewhere, obviously he will want to go to a team better than Red Bull, and there aren’t many teams better than Red Bull out there,” he said on the Up to Speed podcast.
“Maybe Red Bull, at the moment, is not where it would like to be, at the front, as it was a few years ago, but it is still one of the big four teams. I think at Ferrari, the spots are filled. At Mercedes, obviously, I believe they have already found the next Max Verstappen; so maybe they don’t need the real Max Verstappen at this moment,” he continued.
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“And there was McLaren. But until a few days ago, the question was: is McLaren really better than Red Bull? Because I think Red Bull has an advantage: they have their own engine now, which is an advantage when it comes to a factory engine. I mean, McLaren is doing very well using a customer Mercedes engine, but in the end, that would be the only possibility. And I don’t know if that possibility even exists.”
“There were rumors that Oscar could go to Red Bull, things like that. I think that’s the main point for Max: if he goes somewhere, he will want to go to the best team available,” he concluded.
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