Jos Verstappen has branded a claim that Max Verstappen will race for Mercedes in the F1 2026 season as “nonsense” amid rumours surrounding the Red Bull driver’s future.

Despite being under contract until the end of the 2028 season, Verstappen has been persistently linked with a move away from Red Bull over the last 12 months in light of the team’s competitive decline and the tensions between his father and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

Jos Verstappen says ‘nonsense’ to Max Verstappen to Mercedes prediction

Mercedes were heavily linked with Verstappen in 2024 following Lewis Hamilton’s decision to join Ferrari, with the team eventually signing teenage sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli as the seven-time World Champion’s successor.

Aston Martin have also emerged as a potential destination for Verstappen after the captures of engine manufacturer Honda and F1 design guru Adrian Newey, both of whom have played key roles in the reigning World Champion’s recent dominance with Red Bull.

With the length of Antonelli’s contract unspecified, and team-mate George Russell’s current deal believed to expire at the end of 2025, Mercedes have been tipped to renew their interest in Verstappen ahead of the major F1 2026 rule changes, for which the team’s preparations are believed to be advanced.

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Mercedes previously emerged as F1’s dominant force following the introduction of the sport’s V6-hybrid engine rules at the start of 2014, storming to a record eight consecutive Constructors’ titles and seven Drivers’ Championships split between Hamilton (six) and Nico Rosberg (one).

In a recent production by Dutch F1 broadcaster Ziggo Sport, the pundit Jack Plooij recently claimed that Verstappen will start the 2026 season as a Mercedes driver.

Plooij’s prediction prompted a response from Verstappen Sr, who took to Twitter to comment: “Jack Jack Jack. What nonsense you talk.”

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com at last year’s Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, Horner confirmed that Verstappen’s contract contains a “performance element” potentially allowing him to leave Red Bull before 2028 if the team fail to provide a competitive car.

It has been speculated that Verstappen will be free to trigger an exit clause if he is lower than third in the Drivers’ Championship after a significant part of the F1 2025 season has been completed.

If true, this arrangement would appear to mirror a clause widely reported to have been included in at least one of Verstappen’s previous Red Bull contracts.

Publicly, both Verstappens have been insistent that the World Champion will see out the remaining years of his contract Red Bull.

However, a respected F1 reporter claimed in January that negotiations to take Verstappen to Aston Martin are “ongoing” with the prospect of a move described as “very real.”

That revelation came in the aftermath of a newspaper report claiming that Aston Martin have been attempting to woo potential sponsors by claiming that Verstappen will join the team in the near future.

The report was firmly denied by the team, who issued the following statement when contacted by PlanetF1.com: “An Aston Martin Aramco spokesperson categorically denied the story.”

Meanwhile, Verstappen’s camp reportedly responded to the report by commenting: “That’s nice.”

PlanetF1.com understands that both of Aston Martin’s current race drivers, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, are under contract for at least the next two seasons, theoretically leaving no room to accommodate Verstappen.

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Meanwhile, the former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan claimed last year that Mercedes boss Toto Wolff met in Monaco with chairman Ola Kallenius and one-third team owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe to prepare a “fighting fund” to cover Verstappen’s salary.

Jordan, who famously predicted Hamilton’s shock move from McLaren to Mercedes at the end of 2012, went on to claim that Verstappen was aware of the meeting involving Mercedes’ top brass.

In a recent interview with German publication Auto Motor und Sport, however, Wolff denied that Mercedes ever had a “plan” in place to sign Verstappen.

And he revealed that talks with the Red Bull star ended last year when Verstappen communicated his desire to remain with his current team, with Mercedes then proceeding to finalise a deal for Antonelli.

Wolff said: “There was never a plan.

“We always talked and kept the line of communication open.

“At some point he said that he wanted to stay where he was for the time being because it felt right for him.

“And I said that we would go with Kimi because it also felt right for us.

“And now we’ll see where it takes us.”

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