Ralf Schumacher doubts Verstappen-Mercedes partnership will ever click

Even before the first wheel has been turned in anger in F1 2026, questions are being asked – as they have been for the past few seasons – about Max Verstappen’s F1 future and whether or not it lies with Mercedes.

Ralf Schumacher says he doesn’t see that happening as while Verstappen and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff are friends, he doesn’t see a working relationship “truly clicking.”

Max Verstappen to Mercedes? Ralf Schumacher says no

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Verstappen has been persistently linked with a move to Mercedes over recent years, with the rumours peaking last summer before the four-time world champion clarified his future.

“I think it’s time to basically stop all the rumours,” Verstappen said ahead of the summer break. “For me, it’s always been quite clear that I was staying anyway.”

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Verstappen has a long-term contract with Red Bull that runs through to the end of the F1 2028 championship, but already it is being said this year’s car performance could be pivotal in his decision whether to honour that contract, try his hand with another team or quit Formula 1 altogether.

This season, Formula 1 is undergoing its biggest regulatory reset in the sport’s history with new cars and engines on the grid.

The cars will be shorter and lighter than the 2025 machinery and incorporate active aerodynamics with movable front and rear wings.

As for the power units, the engines will run on fully sustainable fuel with a 50-50 split between electrical and combustion power.

It’s a huge change for all the teams, but especially Red Bull as this year’s RB22 will be powered by the team’s first in-house power unit designed in conjunction with Ford.

Already team principal Laurent Mekies has made it clear that Red Bull is “not naive” about the massive challenge that awaits, given it is up against manufacturers who have decades on it.

There’s a lot on the line, including Verstappen’s future.

Armed with exit clauses in his contract, Red Bull’s results, which could be dictated by the performance of the engine, could open the door for Verstappen to leave should the new project fall short of projections.

That would pave the way for Mercedes team principal Wolff, a long-term fan of Verstappen’s, to make a play for the driver.

Schumacher, though, doesn’t believe a Verstappen-Wolff working relationship would actually work given the freedom that Red Bull gives Verstappen to race in GT3 events and even the upcoming 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

“I think,” the six-time F1 race winner told the Backstage Pit Lane podcast, “it would only really become a topic if, for whatever reason, the car stopped working.

“On the other hand, where are the real alternatives?

“I still can’t see Verstappen and Wolff truly clicking. For some reason, it just doesn’t quite fit.

“A team like McLaren would obviously do everything for Verstappen if they had the chance and a seat available. The same goes for Aston Martin.

“But this [Red Bull Racing] is very much a home environment for him, and I have to say that by the end of last year, Verstappen felt extremely comfortable there. You genuinely get the sense that it has become a single unit.

“That’s why I wouldn’t question it at all right now. And where else would he have something like this? The team is basically his. You just have to say it as it is.”

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