Bombshell report that Max Verstappen ‘says yes’ to Mercedes F1 move

Max Verstappen is reportedly ready to ditch Red Bull after verbally agreeing to join Mercedes.

According to Sky Sport Italy, Verstappen has already “said yes” to Toto Wolff and is “close” to joining Mercedes following “concrete negotiations”.

However, the report adds that the Mercedes board has "not yet approved the decisive move".

Verstappen’s F1 future has been the subject of intense debate and speculation amid Red Bull’s ongoing competitive struggles.

The four-time world champion continues to be linked with Mercedes despite Wolff insisting at the start of the year that Verstappen was no longer on his team’s radar.

But it has emerged that Mercedes and Verstappen’s representatives have held talks in recent weeks about a potential future F1 tie-up which could see the Dutchman make a switch for 2026.

Verstappen suffered a huge blow to his hopes of defending his world title after being taken out of the Austrian Grand Prix by Mercedes Kimi Antonelli. 

The opening lap DNF has left Verstappen 61 points adrift of championship leader Oscar Piastri. 

Were Verstappen to complete a blockbuster move to Mercedes, one of George Russell or Antonelli would need to make way.

Russell is out of contract at the end of the season and is yet to be handed a contract extension despite his impressive start to the 2025 campaign.

When will Mercedes make a decision?

Wolff said at the Austrian Grand Prix that Mercedes will make a decision about their 2026 driver line-up in the August summer break, with Russell and Antonelli waiting to find out whether they will be retained.

The Austrian also confirmed conversations have taken place with Verstappen and his entourage.

"You need to be respectable towards the stakeholders in all of that process - the organisation, the drivers, everybody,” Wolff told media including Crash.net on Sunday at the Red Bull Ring.

"You need to understand the way forward. I don't want to be sadistic in letting a driver wait or not taking any decisions when it should be taken.

"I feel we are in a good space, we're [in] June, there are lots of discussions around.

"I've been open with it, transparent. And at a certain stage, in the next couple of months, until the summer break, everything is going to be done.”

In an interview with Sky Sports F1 on Saturday in Austria, Wolff appeared to downplay the prospect of Verstappen joining Mercedes in 2026.

"I think when you look at the situation we have with Kimi and George, we have a perfect line-up that we very much enjoy and that we believe is the future,” he said.

"But, at the same time, there is a four-time world champion that needs to decide what he is going to do in the future and that is just, as a team principal, you need to see where that is going.

"But I think I give it a very little probability that it's going to happen.”

What is Red Bull’s stance?

Meanwhile, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has described the rumours surrounding Verstappen and Mercedes to be “noise”.

“It’s a lot of noise,” Horner stated on Sky Sports F1. “I think Max gets quite annoyed by it.

“We’re very clear with the contract that we have with Max until 2028. So anything is entirely speculative that is said, but we tend not to pay too much attention to it.

“I can imagine that George is frustrated he hasn’t been given a contract yet, but that’s between him and his team.

“But the situation with Max, we know clearly where we’re at and obviously so does Max.

“So everything is subject to noise and obviously within any contract it remains confidential between the parties.”