標籤: Mercedes

The Max Verstappen will-not-be saga got fresh fuel this week, and this time it’s coming from someone who has been inside the paddock long enough to read between the lines.

The four-time world champion has Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes on his shortlist if he triggers a performance-based exit clause buried in his Red Bull contract, former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner told Casino.org. With Red Bull fourth in the constructors’ standings and Verstappen having scored all but four of the team’s 30 points, the conversation is no longer theoretical.

“In my opinion, Max can only go to 3 teams: Ferrari, McLaren, or Mercedes,” said Steiner. “But is there anything available at the moment? Probably not, but will they make something available for Max Verstappen? That’s the big question.”

Max Verstappen Where there is smoke, there is fire

That’s why it’s not just empty frog chatter. Verstappen is technically contracted to Red Bull until 2028, but the deal reportedly includes a performance-based exit clause. Most relevant: If Max is not in the top two in the drivers’ list during the summer break, the door opens for an early departure at the end of the season.

Right now, that door is wide open. Red Bull are fourth in the Constructors’ Championship with just 30 points after four rounds. Verstappen himself is seventh in the drivers’ standings, and has scored all but four of the team’s points. The car is a problem. The trajectory is worse.

Steiner pointed to recent history as a template for how this might change. Ferrari sidelined Carlos Sainz to make room for Lewis Hamilton. Top teams free up seats for generational talent. They just do.

“Just look back at when Ferrari let Carlos go, who was doing a good job, because the goat came Lewis Hamilton,” said Steiner. “So, I think there needs to be something like that, but that’s what Max will be looking for.”

Each team in the shortlist has its own complexities. Mercedes have been linked to Verstappen for years through their relationship with Toto Wolff, although that discussion has cooled recently, partly because Kimi Antonelli currently leads the championship and George Russell is going nowhere. Ferrari already have Hamilton and Charles Leclerc under contract. McLaren has defending champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, the two drivers that most American fans will name first if you ask them who is actually winning races at the moment.

But in the case of McLaren there is a dilemma worth noting. GP Lambias, Verstappen’s long-time race engineer and the calmest voice he has ever heard in his ear, is leaving as chief racing officer at Woking until 2028. It’s no coincidence that anyone in the paddock thinks it’s a coincidence.

“He’ll look at these three teams and talk to them,” Steiner said, “but I don’t think there’s any team that is focused on him.”

Translation: Max is shopping. The only question left is whether anyone is actually ready to buy. With the summer holidays still a few months away, expect the noise over Verstappen’s future to grow before it subsides. Red Bull’s recovery deadline is the real deadline, and right now, they are way off track.

Scott Gulbransen, a quintessential expert in the field of sports journalism, serves as an editor, nfl , mlb , Formula 1…More about Scott Gulbransen

On Friday at Albert Park, home of this week’s Australian Grand Prix, we got our first real look at what F1 2026 is really all about. It didn’t look like that on the test track in Bahrain in the heat of February, but under the pressure of a race weekend, on a road circuit drivers were pushing and teams were making real decisions. After two practice sessions, this is what we know.

Ferrari’s influence continues

The Ferrari came out swinging. Charles Leclerc topped FP1, his red car fast and clean around a track that rewards precision over raw power. Lewis Hamilton finished right behind him in second place. This is the Ferrari 1-2 the Scuderia faithful have been dreaming about for three years.

Hamilton seemed like a man reborn – spontaneous, aggressive, clearly at home in the SF-26 in a way that was difficult to imagine before Melbourne. Even his initial dominance was not a mere glimpse. When FP2 rolled around, both Ferraris were still in the mix, with Hamilton fifth, Leclerc sixth. The speed is real.

Mercedes and George Russell look good despite setbacks

Mercedes had a bit of a messy day but don’t panic. His FP1 was relatively quiet, with the Silver Arrows hiding rather than pushing forward. Then FP2 happened. Kimi Antonelli – yes, the 19-year-old second-year driver – became the first driver to break the 1:19 second barrier and finished second overall. George Russell finished third. alert? Russell spun off and went through the gravel at Turn 3, and has two stewards checks hanging over him after some pit lane contact with Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad. Clean weekend, this ain’t. But the pace is absolutely there.

Max Verstappen is, well, Max Verstappen

Then there’s Verstappen. He stopped the car in the pit lane before the start of FP2. He lost a large portion of the session’s time. Then, with 10 minutes remaining, he hit the wall at turn 10 at high speed, went through the gravel, and damaged his floorboards. He still finished sixth. That’s Max. There are real question marks over the reliability of the car, as Honda reportedly only has two working batteries left, and is still looking for a way to get into the conversation. Don’t ignore it because RB-22 is still complicated. Complex has never stopped him before.

Saturday’s final practice and qualifying will tell us much more. But it’s hard to argue with Friday’s headlines: Ferrari look like a real threat, Mercedes look like the team they can beat if they get things together, and Verstappen remains exactly the kind of problem that doesn’t go away just because you want it to.

Scott Gulbransen, a quintessential expert in the field of sports journalism, serves as an editor, nfl , mlb , Formula 1 … More about Scott Gulbransen