Ralf Schumacher claims Mercedes made Verstappen an offer, but he turned it down

Schumacher says Mercedes opened the door to Verstappen

Ralf Schumacher has claimed Mercedes made an approach to lure Max Verstappen away from Red Bull, only for the four-time champion to reject the proposal because of its financial terms.

Speaking on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast, the former Formula 1 driver said the situation around Verstappen’s future remains active behind the scenes, with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff understood to have made his interest concrete.

“There’s no spot at Ferrari right now,” Schumacher said. “And at Mercedes, you hear that Wolff has made him an offer behind the scenes. But that offer was apparently so bad financially that it’s not an option anyway. That’s apparently what’s going on behind the scenes right now.”

Verstappen has repeatedly been linked with a possible move away from Red Bull, while Wolff publicly expressed interest last year in pairing Mercedes with the Dutchman. The speculation has been sharpened by Verstappen’s own uncertainty over his long-term F1 future, having admitted several times that he is unhappy with the sport’s direction on technology, regulations and race weekend formats.

Antonelli factor complicates Mercedes logic

Schumacher’s assessment is not simply that Mercedes failed to meet Verstappen’s value. He believes the scale of the alleged offer may have been deliberate, shaped by Mercedes’ current competitive position and its investment in Kimi Antonelli.

Mercedes has returned to the top of the pecking order this year, winning six of the opening seven rounds. Antonelli, in his second season, has become a central figure in that surge and has driven himself into title contention. His rising status has also made him an increasingly important part of Mercedes’ future planning, a theme reflected in recent coverage of Antonelli’s demanding Barcelona weekend.

Schumacher suggested that if Antonelli continues on his current trajectory, Mercedes will have to significantly improve his financial package — making an expensive Verstappen deal harder to justify.

“I believe this is intentional,” Schumacher said. “I’ve said it before: why would Wolff bring in the expensive Max Verstappen alongside Kimi Antonelli - the next superstar if everything goes according to plan?”

A potential intra-team risk

For Schumacher, the sporting risk is as clear as the financial one. Pairing Verstappen with Antonelli would create a volatile internal dynamic at precisely the moment Mercedes appears to have momentum.

“Then he’d have two drivers on the team fighting each other,” he added. “He remembers that well from the days of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, and that’s the last thing you want. Above all, he’d be putting Kimi at risk. So that actually makes no sense at all.”

On that reading, Mercedes may have left the door ajar for Verstappen — but not wide enough to disrupt the structure it is already building around Antonelli.