Jos Verstappen says Zak Brown is trying to stir “sh*t” with his claim that he is “betting” Max Verstappen will leave Red Bull for Mercedes at the end of this season.

Despite winning four titles on the trot, Verstappen’s run to number five is under threat after Red Bull’s on – and off – track troubles last season.

Max to Red Bull? Verstappen Snr has something to say about that

Not only did the team part ways with design guru Adrian Newey, but they also took a wrong step in the car’s development, all of this compounded by team principal Christian Horner’s off-track legal troubles. Troubles, it must be noted, he was cleared of.

The team did rebound to end Verstappen’s 10-race winless streak in Brazil before he wrapped up the title in Las Vegas a race later, but with two wins in 13 races to end the season, questions were asked about the Dutchman’s future.

F1 2025 head-to-head stats

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Questions that gained volume as for the first time in 1,030 days he became the hunter, and not the hunted, in the Drivers’ standings.

Verstappen was undone by McLaren in the season’s first qualifying session, relegated to third, but while in Formula 1’s last wet race in Brazil he went from 17th to first, last Sunday all he could do was third to second. And even that was a position gained through Oscar Piastri’s off-track mistake.

It has McLaren CEO Brown insisting that Verstappen’s days as a Red Bull driver are counting down, and fast.

“Oh I think he’ll leave at the end of this year,” the McLaren CEO told the Telegraph, “most likely to Merc.

“There’s been talk of Aston Martin, too, with Adrian Newey joining. But as great as Adrian is – and he’s the greatest ever – you need a whole team around you. You need the culture. That takes time.

“If I was betting, I’d bet on Merc.

“In the last 10 years, they’ve won the championship seven or eight times. Last year they won five races. They have stability.

“We know Toto [Wolff, Mercedes principal and one-third team owner] likes him. And I think we all feel HPP [Mercedes High Performance Powertrains] is best-equipped on the power unit side heading into the new engine regulations next year.

“Plus, George [Russell] is out of contract at the end of this season and Kimi [Antonelli] will be on a series of one-years.”

But despite Brown’s assumed logic, Verstappen’s closest confidant says it is nothing but Brown trying to destabilise Verstappen’s relationship with Red Bull.

Jos Verstappen, Verstappen’s father, responded to Brown’s claim on social media by saying: “He [is] only is trying to stir sh*t.”

Read next: Eddie Jordan: F1’s last ‘rock and roll’ star, while others ‘were Ascot’