Horner fires warning shot to Verstappen amid potential Mercedes switch

The future of Max Verstappen is the topic of conversation this weekend at the Silverstone: Will he stay loyal to his team in 2026, or decide to make the move to Mercedes after a decade of collaboration with Red Bull? Is there anyone at the Austrian team who could replace him? At the press conference for team representatives, Horner was grilled about the Verstappen situation.

Could Russell replace Verstappen at the Austrian racing team? "It's remarkable that George is still on the market," a surprised Horner said in Silverstone to the media. Asked if a direct driver swap might be possible, the team boss replied: "We haven't engaged in any discussion with George, so he's obviously pretty confident that he's gonna get to retain where he is."

According to Horner, it won't matter whether Verstappen leaves the team or not, as Red Bull has a strong foundation without him. "We've got a strength and depth within our team. You can see the other racing bull drivers, you can see [Arvid] Lindblad that we're running today [in FP1]."

Furthermore, the British team boss stated that it's all speculation regarding 2026, so it remains to be seen whether it's a wise idea for Verstappen to switch to the Silver Arrows. "2026 is going to be a transformational year. It's the biggest rule change in Formula 1, probably in the last 50 years, where both chassis and power unit are being introduced at the same time."

Horner emphasized that no one can say with certainty what the new pecking order will be. "It could be either one of these gentlemen sat either side of me, he added, referring to McLaren CEO Zak Brown and Aston Martin team boss Andy Cowell. "It could be Ferrari, it could be Mercedes, it could be anyone."

"So I think there's an awful lot of subjectiveness to 2026, and it'll only be really this time next year that you'll have a clear indication of what that pecking order is. So there are no guarantees that jumping into a Mercedes car would automatically be a better proposition," Verstappen's team boss concluded significantly.