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Former Haas Formula 1 team principal Guenther Steiner believes Mercedes may no longer need to pursue Max Verstappen, arguing that the Brackley team has already found a driver with the potential to fill that role in Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Verstappen’s future remains a major subject of paddock speculation. Red Bull’s difficulty keeping pace with Mercedes at the front of the 2026 grid has intensified suggestions that the Dutchman could consider a move, with Mercedes and McLaren both linked to his next step.
However, Steiner’s assessment is that the available destinations are limited. Speaking on the Up To Speed podcast with former driver David Coulthard and content creator Jolie Sharpe, he said Verstappen would only want to leave Red Bull for a clearly stronger opportunity.
“What I think the problem for Max at the moment is if you would have asked me three or four days ago, I would say going to McLaren is a sideways move, after [the Hungarian Grand Prix], maybe it isn’t a sideways move, but things changed since then,” Steiner explained.
Steiner pointed to the competitive strength still retained by Red Bull, despite its current position. He described the team as one of the “big four good teams” and noted that Verstappen would be unlikely to move unless the alternative offered a superior chance of success.
Ferrari, he suggested, already has its seats filled. Mercedes, meanwhile, may have less incentive to disrupt its line-up after Antonelli’s emergence. Steiner’s conclusion was direct: “At Mercedes, I think they’ve now found the next Max Verstappen. So, maybe they don’t need the real Max Verstappen at the moment.”
That argument places Antonelli at the heart of Mercedes’ driver-market calculations, a storyline also reflected in Wolff’s assessment of Antonelli’s transformation.
McLaren could represent Verstappen’s most obvious alternative, but Steiner questioned whether that opportunity even exists. He also highlighted Red Bull’s status as a works power-unit operation, contrasting it with McLaren’s customer relationship with Mercedes.
“If Max goes somewhere, he wants to go to the best team around,” Steiner said. While McLaren’s recent results may have changed the perception of a potential move, the central issue remains unchanged: Verstappen is unlikely to trade Red Bull for anything less than the strongest available package.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.