Delay expected in Verstappen decision after Horner’s Red Bull sacking

What a difference a few days make as Ralf Schumacher has joined the list of those backtracking on predictions that Max Verstappen “will be” at Mercedes next season.

Now, two weeks after Christian Horner was sacked by the team, the German said Verstappen’s decision is “very open”.

Max Verstappen’s decision will be delayed claims Ralf Schumacher

A lot has been speculated about Verstappen’s Formula 1 future following George Russell’s claim that the reigning World Champion is in “ongoing” talks with Toto Wolff about switching teams.

As the Briton negotiates his own future with the team, he reportedly faces outside competition from Verstappen despite the latter having a long-term contract with Red Bull that runs through to the end of F1 2028.

Although Verstappen has won four World titles on the trot with Red Bull, the team’s form has declined over the last year while McLaren has come to the fore and looks set to dethrone the Dutch racer this season.

However, it’s not only on-track troubles that have blighted Red Bull as the team also had to deal with Christian Horner’s scandal as well as the departure of key figures such as design legend Adrian Newey and long-serving sporting director Jonathan Wheatley.

Clashes between Horner and Verstappen’s father, Jos Verstappen, didn’t help the situation as tension bubbled over.

Analysis: Max Verstappen to leave Red Bull for Mercedes?

👉 Who exactly are Team Verstappen and how influential are they?

👉 How Max Verstappen to Mercedes could shake up F1 2026 driver market

But with Horner out of the mix after being sacked from his roles as team principal and CEO of Red Bull Racing in the wake of the British Grand Prix and replaced by Racing Bulls’ Laurent Mekies, what seemed to Schumacher to be a “will be with Mercedes” situation is now “very open”.

“I think Red Bull has made an extremely good move, in this case from Oliver Mintzlaff and Mark Mateschitz, by putting Mekies in this position now,” the former F1 driver told Sky Deutschland’s Backstage Boxengasse podcast.

“It has brought about something within the team and that has done something to the team. You hear that the mood is very different in such a short time. The approach is different.

“And you can’t forget that Max Verstappen has never been in another team in his career. He owes everything to Red Bull.

“So he is making it anything but easy for himself. And maybe he doesn’t necessarily want to leave.

“I can imagine that if everything is okay here, he will ask himself: ‘why should I leave?’

“I don’t think that was quite his wish. It has only led to it, because the car no longer functions as well. There were problems and internally the atmosphere was suddenly not so good anymore.

“From that point of view, I think it is indeed very open again. Such a development can happen very quickly. And this feeling of well-being is very important to the driver.

“Of course Max also knows one thing: this team is fully behind him. If you look at Mercedes and George Russell now, I can’t imagine that he would be his first choice in terms of his team-mate, if it were up to him.

“So from that point of view, we have to wait and see.”

Weighing in on the Horner situation, the six-time Grand Prix winner believes the former team principal was a factor in Verstappen wanting out. However, having said that, if the 27-year-old was still winning races one after the other, it would’ve covered the cracks.

“That is of course a factor, but on the other hand, if the success had come, everything would have been a bit easier. I think the situation was indeed very complicated and that a lot of wrong decisions were made,” he said.

“Otherwise, Max wouldn’t have been in the situation of saying, ‘No, I don’t see my future here at the moment, maybe I should listen to something else’.

“Horner can then put that on his list, because he has single-handedly determined the fate of the team. You just have to say it that way.”

As for when Formula 1 can expect a decision, Schumacher reckons Verstappen will hold off for a while as he waits to see what Mekies can do in the role of team principal.

“I can hardly imagine anything happening before the summer break,” he said. “I think they want to wait and see what Mekies does. With this recent change, new people are coming in. That was also a problem before. To be fair, with Christian Horner, some well-established people from Formula 1 didn’t want to join.

“Now, of course, if there’s a list and Max Verstappen can be presented with ‘Okay, here we are now, this is where we’re heading, it will take a year’, I can definitely see that happening.

“So, I believe the three of them — his dad, his manager, and Max himself— will sit down during the summer break, lay out the options side by side, classic style, discuss everything, and then make a decision.”

Schumacher isn’t the first this week to backtrack on claims Verstappen will be with Mercedes next season after Nelson Piquet Jr. went from saying he will be “with” the Brackley squad in 2026 to saying “maybe” Verstappen will be at Mercedes and “maybe he’s also already said no”.

Read next: Montoya predicts shock driver market changes should Verstappen join Mercedes