Mercedes play Max Verstappen waiting game as Helmut Marko clause detail emerges – report

Those pesky Max Verstappen to Mercedes rumours are just refusing to go away
Mercedes are reportedly prepared to wait until October to finalise their F1 2025 driver lineup, with the team holding out in the hope of luring Max Verstappen from Red Bull.
And the Silver Arrows’ extended timescale could work in Verstappen‘s favour amid concerns that long-serving Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko remains vulnerable to a potential power grab by team principal Christian Horner.
Mercedes to wait as long as possible to land Max Verstappen from Red Bull?
Despite holding a contract until the end of the F1 2028 season – and winning four of the first six races of F1 2024 – Verstappen has been heavily linked with a move away from Red Bull for next year amid the off-track saga currently engulfing the team.
After an investigation into Horner’s conduct was dismissed in February, Verstappen’s father Jos raised doubts over his son’s future by publicly calling for the team principal to resign following the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix accusing Horner of “playing the victim when he is the one causing the problems.”
Red Bull have since been rocked by the news that design guru Adrian Newey will leave the team early next year, with Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff making no secret of his desire to sign Verstappen as the successor to Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton for F1 2025.
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PlanetF1.com revealed in March that Verstappen’s future is inextricably linked to that of Marko, with the three-time World Champion’s contract believed to contain a clause – potentially inserted without the knowledge of Horner and senior members of Red Bull’s parent company – allowing Verstappen to walk away if Marko is dismissed.
Reports in Germany last month claimed Verstappen is “stuck in a corner” in the driver market, with any commitment to Red Bull beyond this season likely to signal the green light for Horner to step up plans to oust Marko against the backdrop of the ongoing power struggle within the team since the death of founder Dietrich Mateschitz in October 2022.
And in a new development, it has been claimed that the uncertainty over Verstappen’s future could continue until the closing weeks of the current season.
With Mercedes the only realistic alternative available to Verstappen, an early decision by Wolff would leave Marko exposed to the plot of Horner, who would be empowered to act in the knowledge that Red Bull’s star driver has nowhere else to go.
It is claimed that Verstappen’s Marko-related exit clause must be triggered immediately if the 81-year-old is sacked or suspended, but the lack of appealing alternatives would make it highly unlikely that Verstappen would seek a quick escape route upon Marko’s dismissal.
The latest development comes after rumours last week claimed Marko has promised to Verstappen that he will “do whatever he wants” and could even help smooth the World Champion’s path to Mercedes by quitting Red Bull himself, thus allowing Verstappen to activate his release clause.
Verstappen is said to be cool on the prospect of joining Mercedes given the team’s lack of success during the current ground effect era, but is mindful that it could make sense to join the Silver Arrows for the next rules reset in F1 2026, when the engine is poised to become a key performance differentiator once more.
If he is unable to sign Verstappen now, Wolff is reportedly prepared to “take the risk” of placing 17-year-old Italian sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli alongside George Russell for the F1 2025 season in the hope of trying again for Verstappen for F1 2026.
It is unclear whether Antonelli or Russell, who claimed Mercedes’ last victory at the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix, would be moved aside to make way for Verstappen in that scenario.
The FIA confirmed to PlanetF1.com during the recent Miami Grand Prix weekend that the governing body has received a special dispensation request to allow Antonelli to race in F1 before his 18th birthday – the minimum age for drivers to become eligible for an F1 superlicence – in August amid speculation that the teenager could replace Logan Sargeant at Williams.
It has been suggested that Antonelli could spend the second half of the season with Williams to allow Mercedes to evaluate his performances with a view to promoting him as Hamilton’s replacement for F1 2025.
Antonelli recently commenced an extensive testing session as Mercedes prepare him for the step up to F1, testing old cars at the Red Bull Ring and Imola, the scene of this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
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