“It’d be silly to move” - Bernie Ecclestone questions Max Verstappen to Mercedes

Ex-F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone believes it would be “silly” for Max Verstappen to trade Red Bull for Mercedes amid recent speculation.

Verstappen has been linked with a sensational switch to Mercedes for the 2025 F1 season.

Mercedes are still looking for a possible replacement for Lewis Hamilton with Verstappen their number one target.

Verstappen’s future with F1’s dominant force is in jeopardy due to issues internally following the Christian Horner investigation and Adrian Newey’s subsequent decision to leave the team.

With Ferrari and McLaren got their drivers sorted for 2025 and 2026, Mercedes is the obvious favourite for Verstappen should he want to leave Red Bull.

Verstappen could be tempted to leave ahead of 2026 given the new engine rules will be introduced then.

Speaking to RN365, Ecclestone thinks Verstappen is “too intelligent” to leave Red Bull.

"He's too intelligent to do that," Ecclestone said. "What would he gain? To go where?"

"It'd be silly to move. There's nowhere he could go where I think he would get exactly the same service as you get at Red Bull."

Ecclestone did understand the positives of leaving Red Bull, explaining how Verstappen can prove that it’s not just the car, but him.

"Well, the only thing is, you can do that when it suits you, rather than being pushed into it because you would think 'why should Mercedes get that big advantage?'" he added.

"They would spend the money. Red Bull spends the money. He knows about Red Bull, he knows exactly what they do and what they don't do.

"Would he go to think he could prove it's not what people say at the moment, maybe it's not him it's the car that's fantastic.

"So maybe he would like to go somewhere else to prove it's me, not the car. It's another side of things. But where would he go? I suppose in the end Mercedes is the obvious choice."