Zak Brown stirs pot by making huge Max Verstappen F1 2026 prediction

McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes Max Verstappen will leave Red Bull and join Mercedes at the end of the 2025 F1 season.

The future of four-time world champion Verstappen is set to be one of the biggest talking points this year as he continues to be linked with a switch to Mercedes and Aston Martin.

Verstappen is under contract to Red Bull until the end of 2028 but it is understood there are specific performance-based exit clauses in his deal which would enable him to leave if certain conditions are not met.

Toto Wolff made a very public pursuit of Verstappen in 2024 as Mercedes looked for a replacement for seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton after he decided to make a blockbuster move to Ferrari.

But Mercedes ultimately signed Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli, promoting him after a single season in Formula 2 to partner George Russell, whose contract expires at the end of the season.

Brown says he anticipates Verstappen will quit Red Bull before major new regulations come into force in 2026 and reckons his most likely destination will be Mercedes.

“Oh I think he’ll leave at the end of this year,” Brown told The Telegraph, “most likely to Merc.

“There’s been talk of Aston Martin, too, with Adrian Newey joining. But as great as Adrian is – and he’s the greatest ever – you need a whole team around you. You need the culture. That takes time.

“If I was betting, I’d bet on Merc. In the last 10 years, they’ve won the championship seven or eight times. Last year they won five races. They have stability.

“We know Toto [Wolff, Mercedes principal and one-third team owner] likes him. And I think we all feel HPP [Mercedes High Performance Powertrains] is best-equipped on the power unit side heading into the new engine regulations next year.

“Plus, George [Russell] is out of contract at the end of this season and Kimi [Antonelli] will be on a series of one-years.”

Mercedes appear to rule out Max Verstappen move

However, over the season-opening Australian Grand Prix weekend, Wolff stressed he is no longer trying to lure Verstappen from Red Bull.

Instead, Wolff insisted Mercedes are focused on their current two drivers, revealing he plans to open talks with Russell about a new deal in the coming months.

“We need to concentrate on our driver line-up. I don't flirt outside if I'm in a good relationship,” Wolff said in Melbourne.

"So at the moment that [a move for Verstappen] is not on any radar. I don't plan to shift my concentration away from these guys and [will] make sure that George has some visibility very soon, or has a contract very soon."